“Mayor of Saint-Etienne Files Complaint After Town Hall Invasion by Demonstrators Demanding Resignation Over Blackmail Accusations”

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted on 05/31/2023 at 20:21update on 05/31/2023 at 20:26

The mayor of Saint-Etienne Gael Perdriau filed a complaint on Wednesday the day after the invasion of the town hall in the middle of the municipal council by a hundred demonstrators loudly demanding his resignation on the basis of accusations of sex tape blackmail, we learned from the town hall. Tuesday, May 30 in the evening, demonstrators who chanted “Perdriau resignation!and some of whom were banging on pots briefly burst into the municipal council chamber before being repelled by the municipal police, who notably had to use tear gas.

«This kind of violence is unacceptable. There were two municipal officers injured. The hall of the town hall has been badly degraded“, reacted Wednesday the mayor of Saint-Étienne in an interview with France Bleu Saint-Étienne. “What happened last night is extremely serious because this violence was instigated by elected officials“, said the city councilor (ex-LR) adding that “the deputy of the deputy Andrée Taurinya (Editor’s note: LFI deputy for the 2nd constituency of the Loire) was among those who returned by force».

“Defeat Committee”

Gaël Perdriau filed a complaint against X in particular for “degradation of public property», «insult against the Mayor and municipal police» et «mild violenceaccording to a copy of the complaint obtained by AFP. At the start of the municipal council, the main opponents of the mayor – indicted for “blackmailby intimate video on his former centrist deputy to control him politically – had still tried in vain to convince him to resign, to withdraw or to organize a local referendum on the continuation of his mandate.

The respondent replied, “fully focused on (his) mandate», et «can’t wait for justice to speak“, while, as at each municipal council since last September, a collective united under the banner of “Defeat Committeeorganized events on the forecourt of the town hall.

“Proof of (his) innocence”

The day after his indictment, on April 6, the first magistrate from Saint-Etienne said that he would bring “proof of (his) innocence“. If he remains attached to his seat as mayor, Gaël Perdriau has put himself “set backof his functions at the head of the metropolis. Last Thursday, the metropolitan council took note of this and voted 69% for a deliberation halving his indemnity as president of Saint-Étienne Métropole.

In addition to the fifty-year-old elected official, his former chief of staff Pierre Gauttieri, his former deputy Samy Kéfi-Jérôme and the latter’s ex-companion, Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, who had confessed a “smearing of manners” To Mediapartat the end of August 2022, were also indicted.