PARIS – A French appeals court yesterday upheld and lengthened the life sentence imposed on a Corsican shepherd for murdering a senior government official, a sensitive verdict on an island with a history of separatist violence.
Yvan Colonna was first sentenced in 2007 for the 1998 murder of Claude Erignac, who as prefect of Corsica embodied the power of the French state on the Mediterranean island. Colonna said he was innocent and appealed.
Prosecutors also appealed, seeking a minimum term of 22 years -- which the court granted yesterday. The original life sentence, without that specified minimum, could have allowed Colonna out after 18 years. – (Reuters)