The High Commission in Noumea reported that “several fires were extinguished” in Ducos and Magenta, according to RFI.
The commission claimed on Monday that fires were extinguished on Sunday night, adding that “the premises and vehicles of the municipal police and private vehicles” had been set on fire. Protesters also set fire to the town hall in the Koumac commune and destroyed neighbourhoods in Paita. Many schools closed Monday morning due to renewed unrest.
Anger has erupted over the extradition to mainland France of seven pro-independence activists. Authorities charged them last week for their alleged role in organising last month’s riots.
In May, protests broke out over a proposed electoral reform that indigenous Kanaks feared would leave them in a permanent minority. On Monday, a group to which the extradited activists belong called for their “liberation and immediate return” to New Caledonia.
Daniel Goa, president of Caledonian Union, the largest pro-independence political party, expressed “astonishment” by the extradition.
All they have done has been to organise more peaceful demonstrations.
He also denied prosecutors’ accusations that group spokesman Christian Tein and others sponsored the violence. Police arrested Tein last week. The authorities justified his extradition on the grounds that his detention in New Caledonia posed a security risk.
