The days of Gaël Perdriau within the Republicans (LR) are numbered. Admittedly, the mayor of Saint-Etienne had distanced himself from the right-wing party. But LR announced on Tuesday, September 13, that he would be subject to an exclusion procedure. This decision follows revelations from Mediapartthe day before, according to which the elected official pressured his former first deputy, Gilles Artigues, a centrist known as a conservative Catholic, by threatening to reveal a video showing him with an escort.
“If he now returns to justice (…) to pronounce on the guilt and the degree of involvement of Mr. Perdriau, Les Républicains can only condemn the despicable methods used by the mayor of Saint-Etienne against a political rival “writes LR in a press release.
The president of the movement, Annie Genevard, has already launched the exclusion procedure. “Yesterday’s revelations, along with the recordings, confirm the involvement of Perdriau and his entourage. We respect the rule of law”she tells the Monde. And to specify that it voted in favor of the request for exclusion made by the LR de la Loire federation, “which will be endorsed by the next political office”. According to our information, Mr. Perdriau was no longer up to date with his elected dues: he was therefore only a simple member of the party, which should facilitate his exclusion.
“Violence, brutality”
“We had already deprived Perdriau of any responsibility within the movement, because of his political positions and his statements in favor of Emmanuel Macron”recalls M.me Genevard. Regarding the charges against him, “It’s an incredible story: the violence, the brutality of the words of the director of cabinet, and also that of Perdriau, reveal political mores which are extremely serious, and which dishonor the mandate and the responsibilities that Gaël Perdriau occupies”argue Mme Genevard.
According Mediapartduring discussions with his former first deputy, recorded by the latter, the mayor of Saint-Etienne mentioned to his former political ally the fact that he could broadcast the sexual video ” with parsimony “in “small circles”, which would damage his reputation.
For his part, the mayor’s chief of staff, Pierre Gautierri, threatens Gilles Artigues on several occasions in these recordings. He makes it known that he does not refrain from using this video, including with the parents of students in the establishments where the victim’s children are educated. During another exchange, while the first deputy denounced the political blackmail of which he considered himself the victim, liable, he repeated, to two years in prison, Mr. Gauttieri replied: “If the fact that I go to jail makes you fall because you pass for an old pedal on the return, I have no problem. »
Judicial information opened
On Tuesday, Gaël Perdriau’s first deputy, Jean-Pierre Bergé, announced in the press that the mayor of Saint-Etienne is “currently auditioning at his request in Lyon” with the members of his cabinet, “for the truth to come out”, in the face of accusations of blackmail aimed at him. The mayor told him “with serenity” of these hearings, he said.
The Lyon prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation into this case at the beginning of September concerning the filming and use of a video recorded in 2014 while Gilles Artigues was being massaged by a man in a hotel room in Paris. This investigation for “invasion of privacy, aggravated blackmail, embezzlement of public property by a person in charge of a public function, breach of trust and concealment of these offenses” was launched following a complaint of Mr. Artigues, specifically targeting the mayor, one of his deputies and the lover of this deputy, who allegedly organized the meeting between Mr. Artigues and the escort.