On Wednesday February 17, 2021, Georges Tron was sentenced on appeal to five years in prison, three of which was closed, for rape and sexual assault in a meeting on Virginie Ettel, a former collaborator. The facts would have taken place twice in November 2009, then in January 2010. However, the former Secretary of State is still mayor of Draveil (Essonne, in the Île-de-France region) and this, while he is behind bars, remind FranceInfo Thursday 23 April. It is therefore from his cell that he continues to administer his city. And for good reason. Provided in cassation – the last possible recourse in a court case – Georges Tron has the right to continue to exercise his functions. Thus, before the start of the debates on the budgetary orientation of the city which was held on Wednesday, April 22, 2021, his deputy Richard Priva read a letter from the mayor. “I invite you with all my determination to ensure that even with the crisis, we continue to make the city grow”, he started. “You have just made a presentation of the budget by the mayor from his prison? You are defending the one who has been convicted”, took offense to the elected François Damerval. And he’s not the only one who’s annoyed.
Georges Tron refuses to resign
In front of this situation, the opposition and feminist associations deplored his “omnipresence” at the head of the town hall, while he is incarcerated. “It revolts me to see the image of this city associated with the fact that we have a mayor in prison. He is an elected official who believes himself above the law, who abuses his power“, regretted an activist with FranceInfo. However, Georges Tron refuses to leave the post he has held for nearly 25 years. So on online petition asking the Council of Ministers to revoke him from his mandate, we can read: “If this refusal to resign is not surprising, his mandate as mayor may be withdrawn by decree in the Council of Ministers, reason why Dare Feminism! and theAVFT (who has long been asking for the dismissal of elected officials who have committed sexual violence) called on the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister by letters of March 3, 2021 “. Since it was posted online in February 2021, it has been signed nearly 35,000 out of 50,000 signatures.
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