Implicated for “involuntary manslaughter”, the commissioner will benefit from a promotion, a few days before the start of his trial before the criminal court.
A decision that raises questions. Indicted for “manslaughter” after the death of Steve Caniço in Nantes, a 24-year-old after-school activity leader, during a police operation on the night of June 21 to 22, 2019, Commissioner Grégoire Chassaing will benefit from a professional promotion , according to information from The mountain. And the choice of timing is surprising, the latter will be judged in Rennes from June 10 to 14, 2024, in the famous Steve Caniço affair.
A promotion in Lyon before his trial
The young Steve Caniço was found dead in the Loire after a police operation deemed controversial, aimed at putting an end to a techno evening in Nantes in 2019. Commissioner Grégoire Chassaing was in charge of this operation. He is notably accused of having “implemented advance and arrest operations on the quay (…) even though the investigations made it possible to demonstrate that other solutions were possible, in particular that of a withdrawal ” explained the Rennes prosecutor’s office last December.
Until February 5, 2024, Grégoire Chassaing was deputy to the departmental director of public security for Puy-de-Dôme. And the decision that is causing a lot of discussion concerns his future promotion. Indeed, the latter must become head of the national police district of Lyon. And this, from June 1, 2024. Less than two weeks before the start of his trial. In this case, a dismissal of the case was ordered for sub-prefect Johann Mougenot and the other defendants. Furthermore, this is not the first time that Grégoire Chassaing has been promoted since the events unfolded. This was already the case when he took office as number 2 in public security.
The astonishment remains for the family of Steve Caniço
The lawyer for the presumed innocent man speaks of his client as a “scapegoat”, in reference to his referral to the criminal court and the dismissal ordered for the others implicated in this case. “It was necessary to keep a scapegoat to save face under media pressure and thus satisfy the demands for a lawsuit against the police from a militant fringe of public opinion,” he said in a press release.
For its part, Steve Caniço’s family learned “with astonishment of the promotion of Mr. Chassaing to a position of national responsibility, with probable public order missions, in the particularly difficult context of security in France” indicates the lawyer of the family in the columns of Ouest France. From now on, it’s time for the trial before the Rennes Criminal Court from June 10, 2024.