The mayor of Saint-Etienne, Gaël Perdriau (LR), accused of “aggravated blackmail” by his ex-first deputy Gilles Artigues after revelations from Mediapart on an alleged manipulation to the sextape, came out of his silence on Wednesday. The elected official spoke through a press release sent by his lawyers and in which he denounced “despicable and infamous accusations” “for several days”.
“He wishes to be able to explain himself as soon as possible”, indicate his advisers, Christophe Ingrain and Julie Pasternak, specifying that he “disputes all of these accusations”. According to them, Gaël Perdriau intends “to bring to the attention of the investigators all the information available to him”. “They will put an end to the media campaign as violent as it is unfounded that he is currently undergoing”, they still affirm.
Defamation complaint
The complaint for “aggravated blackmail, ambush in an organized gang, embezzlement of public funds and non-denunciation of criminal acts” was filed by Gilles Artigues on Monday before the Saint-Etienne prosecutor’s office, which relinquished jurisdiction in favor of that from Lyon. The latter opened a preliminary investigation on Tuesday, entrusted to the PJ. According to a police source, Gilles Artigues had been interviewed since Wednesday, 9 a.m., in the Lyon premises of the zonal direction of the PJ.
“Secondly, a complaint for slanderous denunciation will be filed by Gaël Perdriau concerning the false declarations of Gilles Artigues”, reveals Christophe Ingrain.
Mediapart published an investigation on Friday claiming that a deputy mayor, Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, had organized a filmed meeting with a gay escort to trap and muzzle Gilles Artigues. Publishing compromising images taken from the video, the media relied on the revelations of Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, the former companion of Samy Kéfi-Jérôme. He claims to have co-organized at the end of 2014 this meeting between Gilles Artigues and the escort in a Parisian hotel room.
Internal disagreements
According to him, this video would then have allowed the municipal team of Gaël Perdriau to put pressure on the father of the family and to dissuade him from a possible dissidence. Previously, his candidacy for the second round of municipal elections in 2008 had divided the right and contributed to the election of Maurice Vincent (PS).
Gilles Rossary-Lenglet also told Mediapart that he had received a job offer in recent years from the town hall, which did not materialize, and 50,000 euros for services rendered, via remuneration by cultural associations.
For his part, Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, regional councilor, was suspended on Saturday from his duties as delegate for the digital strategy of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region by its president, Laurent Wauquiez.