Nouméa vs Paris: Kanak leader freed, tensions persist Article by New Zealand Media

A New Zealand website, Community Scoop, has published an article focusing on the political situation in New Caledonia. Caliber.Az offers readers excerpts from the article.

A Paris appeal court has confirmed that Kanak pro-independence leader Christian Téin’s is now cleared to return to New Caledonia.

In June 2024, at the height of violent riots, Téin and other pro-independence leaders were arrested in Nouméa and swiftly flown to mainland France aboard a specially-chartered plane.

They were allegedly suspected of playing a key role in the riots that broke out mid-May 2024 and were later indicted with criminally-related charges.

The charges for which Téin remains under judicial supervision include theft and destruction of property involving the use of weapons.

His pre-trial conditions had been eased in June 2025, when he was released from the Mulhouse (Eastern France) jail, but he was not allowed to return to New Caledonia at the time.

Téin’s lawyers react to the decision

Téin’s lawyers said on Thursday they were “satisfied and relieved”.

“This time, Téin is allowed to go back to his land after eighteen months of being deprived (of freedom)”, one of Téin’s counsels Florian Medico told French national media.

The ruling also concerns four other defendants, all pro-independence leaders.

Case not closed yet

“It’s now up to the investigating judges, in a few months’ time, to decide whether to rule on a lack of evidence, or to bring the indicted persons before a Court to be judged … But this won’t happen before early 2026”, lawyer François Roux told reporters on Thursday.

Téin is the leader of a CCAT “field action co-ordinating cell” set-up by one of the main pro-independence parties in New Caledonia – the Union Calédonienne (UC).

In January 2025, the case was transferred from a panel of judges in Nouméa to another group of magistrates based in Paris.

They ruled on 12 June that, while Téin and five other pro-independent militants should be released from custody, they were not allowed to return to New Caledonia or interfere with other persons associated with the same case.

But in a ruling delivered in Paris on 23 September, the new panel of judges ruled Téin was now allowed to return to New Caledonia.

The ruling was based on the fact that since he was no longer kept in custody and even though he had expressed himself publicly and politically, Téin had not incited or called for violent actions.

He still faces charges related to organised crime for events that took place during the New Caledonia riots starting from 13 May 2024, following a series of demonstrations and marches that later degenerated, resulting in 14 dead and over €2 billion in material damages.

Outrage on the pro-France side

Reacting on Friday on social networks, the FLNKS hailed the appeal ruling, saying this was “an immense relief for their families, loved ones and the whole pro-independence movement.”

“The struggle doesn’t stop, it goes on, even stronger”, the FLNKS says, referring to the current parliamentary battle in Paris to implement the “Bougival” agreement signed in July 2025, which FLNKS rejects.

In a letter to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, and copied to French President Emmanuel Macron and Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, early October 2025, the FLNKS reiterated that they had “formally withdrawn” their signatures from the Bougival deal and that therefore these signatures should not be “used abusively”.

However, despite a spate of instability that saw a succession of two French governments over the past two weeks, the implementation of the Bougival deal continues.

On Wednesday last week, the French Senate endorsed the postponement of New Caledonia’s provincial elections to June 2026.

The same piece of legislation will be tabled before the Lower house, the French National Assembly, on 22 October.