The mourners had gathered in the small village of Vero, a half-hour drive from Ajaccio, the capital of the picture-postcard Mediterranean island of Corsica.
In their midst was former nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, 71, who had flown in from exile in Nicaragua to bury his mother. Suddenly, with the ceremony underway, a single shot was fired from nearby scrubland, killing Orsoni instantly.
Thirty-five people have been fatally shot on this island of 350,000 people in the past three years alone, giving it one of France's highest murder rates. Corsicans have become wearily familiar with vendettas and tit-for-tat underworld shootings, but even here, the way Orsoni was killed has stunned islanders.
Yesterday, Alain Orsoni was cremated after a funeral service in Ajaccio. There was a large police presence.
Close friend Jo Peraldi finds it hard to believe that a day of high emotion surrounding the funeral of Orsoni's mother could have been defiled in such a way. A cemetery is sacred in Corsica, just like a church. Never have I witnessed seeing someone murdered while accompanying their mother to their final resting place, he told Corsican radio.
Over the years, victims of Corsica's violence have included farmers, elected officials, a lawyer, local business owners, and even the president of the chamber of commerce. But for a cousin of the victim, Christian Leca, Orsoni's killing was a tipping point in the horror. People don't kill in cemeteries, it's intolerable, he told Le Monde newspaper.
This murder increases the mafia pressure that weighs heavily on Corsican society, says Gilles Simeoni, president of Corsica's regional authority, who called Orsoni a major contemporary figure in Corsican nationalism. The assassinated Orsoni's family are a household name linked to episodes of violence and turmoil on the island.
As fears grow that Orsoni’s murder could lead to more violence and revenge killings, a local cardinal has called for an end to the bloodshed, urging the community to reject the cycle of violence that threatens to engulf Corsica.
