French police in New Caledonia arrested protest and pro-independence Caledonian Union chief Christian Tein on Wednesday.
Local media reported the arrest of eight individuals together with Tein occurred in a police operation on the get together headquarters on Wednesday morning.
Many companies, outlets and the Noumea city corridor closed down afterward out of concern of additional unrest.
Nine individuals died, together with two police, in violent protests that swept New Caledonia final month after France voted to approve reforms to permit hundreds extra French residents who’ve lived within the French Pacific territory for 10 years to vote.
Indigenous Kanaks worry it is going to dilute their vote and make it more durable for any future referendum on independence to cross, whereas Paris says the measure is required to enhance democracy.
Tein leads a department of the Caledonian Union known as the Field Action Coordination Cell (CCAT), which organized protest barricades throughout the capital Noumea which have disrupted site visitors, motion and meals provides.
He was among the many pro-independence political figures who met with French President Emmanuel Macron throughout his lightning go to to New Caledonia final month.
In an announcement, Caledonian Union President Daniel Goa urged calm amongst CCAT protesters and instructed youth not to answer what he stated was a “provocation.”
The French High Commission stated in an announcement that town heart was “free and secure,” as media reported many automobiles leaving.
The New Caledonia prosecutor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Macron stated final week he had suspended the voting reform, nevertheless, pro-independence teams need it fully withdrawn earlier than dialogue over the political way forward for the island can restart, saying they can not in any other case persuade younger protesters to depart the barricades.
New Caledonia’s worldwide airport reopened this week, though a curfew remains to be in place and several other thousand French police reinforcements stay.
Source: www.dailysabah.com