Pro-independence protesters have burned police vehicles and blocked roads in New Caledonia, authorities in the French Pacific territory say, as anger erupted over the extradition to France of jailed protest leader Christian Tein.
Protesters had also set fire to the town hall in the Koumac commune, as well as destroyed areas in Paita, France's High Commission in Noumea said on Monday.
The Dumbea municipal council said a firefighting vehicle was attacked, possibly by gunshots, and some schools were forced to close due to the protests, which began in May after France voted to approve reforms to allow thousands more French residents who have lived in the territory for 10 years to vote.
Indigenous Kanaks fear this reform will dilute their vote and make it harder for any future referendum on independence to pass, while Paris says the measure is needed to improve democracy.
Daniel Goa, president of Caledonian Union, the biggest pro-independence political party, said he was "astonished" by the deportation of Tein and six other party officials on Saturday night.
"All they have done has been to organise more peaceful demonstrations," he said in a statement.
He denied the prosecutor's allegations that Tein and the others were sponsors of violence.
Police had arrested Tein, who leads an offshoot of Caledonian Union called Field Action Co-ordination Cell last week.
The cell set up barricades that have disrupted traffic for weeks, and Tein had met French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Noumea in May aimed at resolving the political impasse.
On Monday, French loyalist politicians including Sonia Backes and Nicolas Metzdorf said in a statement that a third of local business had been destroyed and they had sent a letter to Macron requesting the New Caledonia government be placed under state administration, as it was "no longer fit to lead".
The Kanak people have sought for decades to break free from France, which first took New Caledonia in 1853.
Violence flared on May 13 in response to attempts by Macron’s government to amend the French constitution and change voting lists in New Caledonia.
France declared a state of emergency two days later, rushing hundreds of troop reinforcements to help police quell the revolt that included shootings, clashes, looting and arson.
The prosecutor did not name the other six detained activists who were transferred with Tein to mainland France.
Reports in French media suggested that the pro-independence group's communications director, Brenda Wanabo, and Frederique Muliava, chief of staff to the president of New Caledonia's Congress, are among them.
The violence led to nine deaths and widespread destruction of shops, businesses and homes.
On Wednesday, 11 Kanak activists were arrested in a broad police raid targeting the Field Action Co-ordination Cell.
The detentions were part of an ongoing police investigation launched on May 17, just days after protests against the Paris-pushed voting reform turned violent.
The activists face a long list of charges, including complicity in attempted murder, organised theft with a weapon, organised destruction of private property while endangering people, and taking part in a criminal group with an intent to plan a crime.
In the past seven months, Tein’s Field Action Co-ordination Cell has organised major, peaceful marches in New Caledonia against the French authorities and the voting reform.
With France now plunged into frenzied campaigning for snap parliamentary elections, Macron suspended the changes to voting rights in New Caledonia.
Reuters and AP
