Gaël Perdriau takes a step back. While he was placed in police custody in a sextape blackmail case, the mayor of Saint-Étienne (Loire) will go on leave from his duties in the metropolis of which he is the president, announced his vice -President. In fact, specifies a press release from the executive of Saint-Étienne Métropole, “the president proposed that the vice-presidents ensure external representations, (that) the partnership files be delegated to the vice-presidents within the framework of their delegation , (and that) the next meeting of the Metropolitan Council on September 29 be chaired by Hervé Reynaud, 1st vice-president”.
“These provisions must allow the establishment of a mode of provisional management of the community likely to promote the conduct of cases and an appeasement of the situation”, adds the same press release. This solution is “the result of a collective reflection” in “respect for justice and its rhythm” with the aim of “preserve the metropolis” from the disturbances linked to this recent case of blackmail on intimate video, explained to AFP Christophe Faverjon, the communist mayor of Unieux, after a meeting of the vice-presidents of the metropolis.
Custody and tarnished image
The image of the mayor of Saint-Étienne has been considerably tarnished by a case of political sextape blackmail under judicial investigation in Lyon. The affair, which is under investigation, broke out at the end of August when a former close friend of the municipality made very detailed confessions to the Mediapart site on a “smearing of morals” ordered, according to him, by the mayor and his entourage to neutralize the former centrist first deputy, Gilles Artigues. According to him, the operation was remunerated via fictitious services invoiced to two local cultural associations subsidized by the town hall.
Last week, Gaël Perdriau had however displayed his “determination” to remain in office, deaf to the calls of those who asked him to take leave – local and national elected officials, in his camp and in the opposition, but also local economic actors.
The city councilor was taken into custody on September 13, along with three other members of the municipal team. The judicial inquiry, opened in Lyon after a complaint from Gilles Artigues, concerns the production and use of this video shot in January 2015 in which we see this ex-MP known for his Catholic commitment and his homophobic positions, being massaged by a man in a hotel room in Paris.