New Caledonia Indigenous independence leader transferred to mainland France for pre-trial detention

By BARBARA SURK
Associated Press

NICE, France (AP) — New Caledonia’s public prosecutor says a pro-independence leader in the French Pacific territory has been transferred to a prison facility in mainland France to await trial for his alleged role in a recent deadly unrest. Prosecutor Yves Dupas said Christian Tein, an Indigenous Kanak leader of the pro-independence party known as The Field Action Coordination Unit, was flown to mainland France along with six other Kanak activists. Nine people died in the violence which began on May 13 in response to the French government’s plans to change voting rights. Those plans have now been abandoned because of the upcoming French election.