More than a month after being allowed to return to New Caledonia, Kanak independence leader Christian Tein is still waiting. In an interview published by Guardian This Saturday, November 22, he accused France of deliberately delaying the issuance of his new passport, in order to delay his return.
Placed in custody in June 2024, Christian Tein, 57, could leave prison a year later. In late September, the investigating judge relaxed his judicial controls, giving him the authority to return to the archipelago, but prosecutors appealed. In October, he was finally allowed to return to New Caledonia.
However, even though he has asked for a new passport, Christian Tein still hasn’t received it so he is still stuck in France. “It’s been a long time since I applied for a passport,” he explained to Guardian. “But we can see that (the French government) is deliberately delaying.”
In May 2024, the situation on the islands exploded when the Assembly conducted an examination of electoral reforms accused of marginalizing the indigenous Kanak population. Suspected of encouraging violence during the subsequent riots, Christian Tein was arrested in June 2024. After being arrested, he was immediately transferred to France along with six other activists.
The man who currently serves as president of the National Liberation Front of Children and Socialists (FLNKS) is still charged with theft of weapons by an organized gang, vandalism by an organized gang, and criminal association with the intent of preparing crimes and misdemeanors. Accusations he always denies, ensuring he never calls for violence.
“We have forgotten the values of human rights. The value that when you indict someone, it is based on evidence, reasonable evidence. But they did everything to isolate me from my country. regretted Christian Tein to Guardian. Before adding: “I hope (the French justice system) will find ways and means to rid us of the injustices we suffer.”
Christian Tein also criticized the conditions of his detention in France. “A year in solitary confinement was very, very difficult,” he stressed. “Psychologically, we can never come out of a situation like this unscathed,” he still confides in British newspapers.
According to his defense, Christian Tein, who had been placed by the Caledonian Union (a FLNKS component) as head of CCAT to organize the May 2024 mobilization, sought to end the violence so that it would not happen again. “political senselessness” with the prospect of independence.
At that time, fourteen people, including two policemen, were killed and hundreds were injured in the riots. Material damage is estimated at at least 2.2 billion euros.
Questioned by Active guardian his project, the FLNKS leader assured that he would not give up: “I’m 57 years old and I don’t think I have the right to leave this problem to future generations. (Independence) is our only ambition.”
