The mayor of Saint-Étienne Gaël Perdriau is once again heard by the courts, this Friday in Lyon on the case of blackmail involving the intimate video of his ex-first deputy.
The mayor of Saint-Étienne, Gaël Perdriau, is once again heard by the investigating judges in charge of the investigation, this Friday, January 19, 2024 in Lyon on the sextape blackmail case which has shaken his city since August 2022. Excluded of the Les Républicains party, the 51-year-old elected official was indicted on April 6, 2023 for blackmail and placed under assisted witness status for “embezzlement of public funds by a holder of public authority” in connection with this affair. He was placed under judicial supervision, with a bail of 60,000 euros.
Accused of blackmail, he refuses to resign
As a reminder, the scandal concerns a video shot in January 2015 in which we see his former first deputy Gilles Artigues being massaged by a man in a hotel room in Paris. His former right-hand man Pierre Gauttieri was indicted for “criminal association”. The latter had directly implicated Gaël Perdriau, an accusation which had given rise to several indictments for the first Saint-Etienne city councilor.
Accused of political blackmail by Gilles Artigues and cited in audio recordings published by Médiapart, Gaël Perdriau has always proclaimed his innocence. He claims to be “neither the sponsor, nor the organizer, nor a user” of this video. The Mayor of Saint-Étienne has always refused to resign. On the other hand, he dismissed his chief of staff and reduced his representative functions at town hall. He is today completely retired from the presidency of the metropolis of Saint-Etienne, a position he has held since 2014.