A FRENCH court’s decision to drop all charges against pro-independence leader Christian Téin and 13 others has produced mixed reactions across New Caledonia, with the public prosecution now appealing the ruling.
The Paris court cited “insufficient” evidence, effectively delivering a “no case to answer” verdict for the 14 accused over their alleged roles in the deadly May 2024 civil unrest. The unrest claimed 14 lives and caused over €2 billion in economic damage.
The pro-independence FLNKS party, now led by Téin, expressed relief that “French justice has done its job,” welcoming the decision “with a lot of humility.” Defence lawyers had earlier argued the case sought to “muzzle” Téin and his co-accused.
However, pro-France politicians reacted furiously. New Caledonia’s MP in the French National Assembly, Nicolas Metzdorf, lashed out at what he called “the red judges,” insisting “those responsible must be taken to account.” Southern Province President Sonia Backès criticised a judicial system that “has gone crazy.”
Both welcomed the prosecution’s appeal, which argues that “further investigation” is still required.
The ruling comes as campaigning intensifies for local provincial elections, with the highly sensitive case remaining a tense political fault line two years after the territory’s worst civil unrest in decades.
Source: RNZ
