New Caledonian activists transferred to France to face charges over deadly riots

According to a statement released on Sunday by Yves Dupas, the public prosecutor in the territory's capital Nouméa: "This transfer was organised during the night by means of a plane specially chartered for the mission."

The seven have been sent to mainland France, he added, "due to the sensitivity of the procedure and in order to allow the investigations to continue in a calm manner, free of any pressure".

Among the seven detainees was Christian Tein, head of the pro-independence group CCAT, who was charged Saturday over the recent violence in which nine people died, including two police officers.

• Court proceedings begin against suspected ringleader of New Caledonia riots

Hundreds more were wounded, and around €1.5 billion of damage was inflicted during the unrest over controversial voting reforms.

Authorities did not immediately specify what charges Tein faces.

Speaking on Saturday, Tein's lawyer Pierre Ortent said he was "stupefied" that his client was being sent to France, accusing magistrates of "answering to purely political considerations".

'Colonial justice'

For Benoît Trépied, a leading anthropolgist and expert on New Caledonia's history and politics, the suspects' deportation represents the epitome of "colonial justice" and will not solve any of the archepelago's problems. 

"It's not going to solve anything, it's just likely to add fuel to the fire, given the tension that continues to exist in the country," Trépied told FranceInfo.

"People are experiencing this, once again, as the expression of colonial justice, a colonial prison and a colonial state," he added.

In his view, "until we get everyone around the table, and the CCAT is essential, peace will not return".

• Police arrest pro-independence leader in New Caledonia riot probe

Deadly riots

Riots, street barricades and looting broke out in New Caledonia in May over an electoral reform that would have allowed long-term residents to participate in local polls.

The archipelago's Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their vote, putting hopes for eventually winning independence definitively out of reach.

France's government repeatedly accused Tein's CCAT of orchestrating the violence, a charge the organisation has denied.