Enlised in the sextape blackmail affair which has shaken the city since the end of August, the mayor of Saint-Étienne, Gaël Perdriau, has announced that he will be on leave from his duties as president of the metropolis. Thus, the first city councilor will not chair the next metropolitan council, scheduled for September 29. It should no longer, either, perform its functions of external representation, according to Christophe Faverjon, the communist mayor of Unieux, interviewed by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
This solution is “the fruit 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 to intimate video, a-t-t he explained after a meeting of the vice-presidents of the metropolis.
Gaël Perdriau had nevertheless displayed his “determination” to remain in office
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 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” sponsored, according to him, by the mayor and his entourage to neutralize the former first deputy. centrist Gilles Artigues. The operation, according to him, was remunerated via fictitious services invoiced to two local cultural associations subsidized by the town hall.
READ ALSOSextape blackmail: LR launches an exclusion procedure for Gaël Perdriau
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 former deputy, known for his Catholic commitment and his homophobic positions, being massaged by a man in a hotel room in Paris.