Expert: Ban on Corsican in public life tantamount to depriving people of right to their own language

The decision of the court of Bastia city in Corsica to prohibit the use of the Corsican language in the performance of public duties means that representatives elected by the people have no right to speak their language during debates in the local Assembly, the executive council of Corsica, and Corsicans in general in public and everyday life, journalist and expert on Mediterranean geopolitics Domenico Letizia told Report.

According to Letizia, such an approach is harmful because it feeds the desire for independence on the basis of one’s own cultural emancipation. “To speak one’s own language and be a supporter of one’s own culture should be a human right. Dialogue and discussions on this issue can help ensure that the Corsican political reality can coexist peacefully within the motley French political system,” he said.

The expert added that legislative bans on culture, of which language is a part, only increase tensions between Paris and Corsica.