Death of Steve in Nantes: the indictment of the former prefect canceled


The Rennes Court of Appeal has canceled the indictment for involuntary homicide of the former prefect of Loire-Atlantique Claude d’Harcourt after the death in 2019 of Steve Maia Caniço in Nantes during the Music Festival, announced on Friday the parquet floor of the Breton capital. The former official is granted assisted witness status, the prosecution said in a statement. The indictment of the former chief of staff of Mr. d’Harcourt and sub-prefect Johann Mougenot, also for manslaughter, is confirmed.

“Nullity of the expertise”

The Court of Appeal had been seized of an appeal filed by the lawyers of the three principals charged in this case, the prefect at the time and his chief of staff, as well as the commissioner who directed the police operation on the banks of the Loire, Grégoire Chassaing. The first two requested the cancellation of their indictment. They disputed in particular the use of an expert agency, Index, which produced a video reconstruction of the police intervention added to the investigation file.

Police commissioner Grégoire Chassaing, who led the controversial operation, remains under investigation. In its judgment delivered on Friday, the investigating chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeal “declared the nullity of the expertise” of the Index agency, as requested by the three officials.

Eight people fell in the Loire

Steve Maia Caniço, 24-year-old extracurricular animator, had disappeared after a police operation intended to put an end to an electro evening on the banks of the Loire on the night of June 21 to 22, 2019. Analysis of Steve’s phone records made it possible to locate his fall in the Loire at 4:33 a.m., during the police intervention.

Saying they felt threatened and were victims of projectiles, the police responded by firing 33 tear gas canisters, 12 defense bullets (LBD) and 10 de-encirclement grenades. Witnesses said they were blinded by a cloud of tear gas. Seven people had fallen in the Loire during the police intervention, not counting Steve, whose body was not found until July 29, a little over a km upstream.



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