2023-04-27 18:01:04
The mayor of Saint-Etienne would never have seen, nor detained, and even less sponsored the video of a sexual nature which undermined the life of his first deputy for seven years. This is the line of defense held by Gaël Perdriau, 50, during his first appearance interrogation, of which The world got to know. “I am the mayor of the 13e city in France, from the 15e metropolis, and I have other things to take care of than sex between my assistants”replies the elected official, facing three investigating judges, on April 6 at the Lyon courthouse. “Not to hold, not to see, does not mean not to use it”point the magistrates.
The exchange summarizes the tone of the four and a half hour hearing, at the end of which Mr. Perdriau (excluded from the Les Républicains party) is indicted for “blackmail”, suspected of having threatened to broadcast the “sextape” in return for the political passivity of Gilles Artigues, first deputy and former deputy of the Loire (UDI). He is placed under the status of assisted witness concerning the “embezzlement of public funds”, in this case two subsidies of 20,000 euros, taken from the mayor’s budgetary reserve outside the current circuits, which would have served to remunerate the authors of the assembly.
The chosen one tries to impose a political answer to the legal questions. “You can’t think that I am blackmailing the 46 members of the majority”, he says. Elected in 2014, comfortably re-elected in 2020, Mr. Perdriau affirms that he fears no opponent, even less his deputy. Gaël Perdriau remarks that, since the end of his mandate as deputy, in 2007, Gilles Artigues “lost everything” even though he has “won with 60% in 2020”to municipalities. “Gilles Artigues needs me much more to exist politically than the opposite, he owes me his political survival given his results in the last elections”boasts the mayor of Saint-Etienne, describing a deputy who “insisted on making the journeys with [lui] In [sa] car “.
“The Noise and the Foam”
The judges remind him of his words, recorded by Gilles Artigues, who was trying to get out of the trap. “We are not obliged to broadcast them publicly”said the mayor, threatening to give extracts “in small circles sparingly”. Gaël Perdriau turns the situation around, claiming to be a victim: “I would just like to point out that, if he hadn’t illegally recorded me for all these years, including in these angry moments, in a thoughtful and organized way, this subject would never have existed. »
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