Three weeks after the brutal attack on Yvan Colonna in Arles prison, investigators are trying to learn more about the attacker’s motives. Franck Elong Abé, charged with “attempted terrorist murder”, has told more about the eight minutes before the Corsican nationalist’s death, the newspaper Libération reports. The man with a now well-known personality profile, who had been with the Taliban in Afghanistan, among other things, told investigators at the Marseille criminal investigation department that he had acted according to God’s will. “I am of the opinion that Allah killed Yvan Colonna using my hands. God used my hands to act against the one who committed blasphemy,” he announced.
His act was due to a hatred he had been growing for several days, reports Libération. Franck Elong Abé, who calls himself the instrument of “the creator of the earth and the sky” and of “Mektoub” (destiny), says that the day begins unfriendly between the two men on March 2. As Yvan Colonna is present in the gymnasium, he sees him coming and greets him. The latter, however, does not answer. He then ” attacks ” him. In one of the hearings, the transcript of which was made available to Libération, Frank Elong Abé stated: “Immediately the order came to me to act […] I jumped at head height, feet forward. [He shouted [the warden’s name] three or four times. Then he continues in detail: “He said ‘wanker’ to me, something like that. I think he was surprised and taken aback. […] I kicked him in the neck and his head hit the floor and that’s when he lost consciousness.”
Libération notes that the suspect’s narrative is detailed, “almost robotic”. Among other things, he describes how he tried to strangle the man. When he saw that the man was “breathing”, he used a rubbish bag “to suffocate him”. This account is supported by CCTV footage, which was also available to Libération. The rest is even more macabre. When he hears a warden coming, he tells investigators that he “acted like a child who had just done something stupid” and even thought of doing “mouth-to-mouth”. He told prison guards on the scene that Yvan Colonna had suffered a fainting spell and he remained very calm from beginning to end. According to Libération, Franck Elong Abé goes back to his cell and adorns himself with a Qamis, an Islamic head covering, as he is aware that he would be recognised by the video surveillance cameras.
After viewing the images, the deputy prison warden in charge of detention described a ” smear campaign ” against the Corsican nationalist. While there was nothing in the prison to suggest such an attack, according to the former Taliban, there were a number of elements that would have convinced him of the crime, including two phrases uttered by Yvan Colonna: “I spit on God”, he is reported to have said at one point, and “If Allah exists, let him let me die now”, he is reported to have uttered during a debate on faith. Another man close to the two inmates told investigators that Franck Elong Abé had said to him, “I don’t speak to Yvan anymore because he made fun of my religion.” In front of investigators, he was visibly aware of what he had done and concluded with a certain fanaticism: “I’d rather be in prison all my life than have to answer to Allah for my cowardice in not defending him. Many people kill for love and you understand them, I defend the cause of God and there you don’t understand me.”
Life is too long for Abe.