| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 57 sec.) ; 162255391 bytes |
| Summary |
French holiday makers crowd its taupe beaches, frolic in salty shore-breaks and crowd the cafes and hotels in its centuries-old towns and villages. Inland, hunters from all over Europe stalk quarry through some of the richest and most precipitous hunting grounds they'll ever know. It's one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean. It's also one of the most deadly. Corsica has the highest murder rate in Europe and lately the assassins have been training their gun-sights on very powerful, very prominent local identities. Why is this holiday haven also a venue for so much bloodshed?In summertime, they throw out the welcome mat and hoards of vacationers stampede onto the coastal fringes of this striking, majestic island off the south coast of France. In the sparkling sunshine, Corsica looks like it hasn't a care in the world. The restaurants are buzzing, the shops are doing a brisk trade, hoteliers are putting up no-vacancy signs from Bastia to Ajaccio.But looks are deceiving. Corsica may be a fun-filled, sun-filled, get-away-from-it-all destination but it has a dark side. A very dark side. Per capita, more people are murdered here than anywhere else in Europe. The homicide rate is seven times higher than mainland France.It's the birthplace of Napoleon who knew how to pick a fight. And it's been savaged by a bitter separatist struggle over the years. Conflict has come to reside in the hearts and souls of many Corsicans. But even those hardened by that violent strife are shaking their heads at the wanton killing afflicting their island home.Local criminal gangs act with impunity, managing to stay steps ahead of an inadequate local police force. And lately they've been getting bolder and taking aim at some of the highest profile legal and administrative figures on the island."(We're) wondering how far it would go - the spiral of violence. How many people were going to get killed? We had the impression that anyone could get killed at any time and anywhere." - Paul Ortoli - Crime Reporter, CorsicaEurope Correspondent Philip Williams finds a Corsica in the grip of a killing spree. As he travels across the island investigating the murder of prominent lawyer Antoine Sollacaro and others, no fewer than three killings occur enroute. A young 22 year old shot in his car and another double killing not far from Williams' hotel in Bastia, where he travelled to interview a group of women trying to mobilise against the violence.Unsurprisingly, at the heart of the violence is money and at the centre of that is property. Criminal gangs are laundering their ill-gotten gains through real-estate transactions, and exerting enormous pressure on local planning and regulatory authorities to free up land for development. It's a labyrinthine mess and it seems very little is being done to fix it |
| Event |
Broadcast 2013-09-10 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Assassination.
|
|
Islands.
|
|
Mass murder.
|
|
Victims of violent crimes.
|
|
Threats of violence.
|
|
France.
|
| Form |
Streaming video
|
| Author |
Williams, Philip, host
|
|
Bucchini, Dominique, contributor
|
|
Culioli, Gabriel, contributor
|
|
Persie, Paule, contributor
|
|
Sollocaro, Paul, contributor
|
|
Vivoni, Ange-Pierre, contributor
|
|
