the out of place affair of Saint-Etienne in Lyon

Three days after the Mediapart revelations, the case involving elected officials from the municipal majority of Saint-Etienne rebounded on Monday August 29. A complaint for « aggravated blackmail » was filed against the mayor of Saint-Étienne Gaël Perdriau (LR) by his former first deputy Gilles Artigues (UDI),

This complaint for « aggravated blackmail, ambush in an organized gang, embezzlement of public funds and non-denunciation of criminal acts » follows the publication Friday by Mediapart of an investigation affirming that a deputy mayor, Samy Kefi-Jérôme , had organized a filmed meeting with a gay escort to trap and muzzle Gilles Artigues.

A “transfer” between competent courts

In this case, the Saint-Étienne public prosecutor’s office also indicates that it has sent a request for a « change of scenery » for the case to the Lyon Court of Appeal. That is to say a « transfer » between competent jurisdictions.

Thus in the interest of a « good administration of justice », David Charmatz, public prosecutor in Saint-Etienne asked « the change of scenery from the General Prosecutor of the Lyon Court of Appeal for the purpose of transmitting the procedure for jurisdiction to the public prosecutor at the Lyon judicial court » .

This request is made possible by a provision of article 43 of the code of criminal procedure which makes it possible to disorient the case when it involves, as perpetrator or victim, a person who, by virtue of his functions or missions, is usually in relation to the magistrates of his jurisdiction.

This is the case of magistrates themselves, lawyers, public officers, police officers, soldiers, persons holding public authority, elected officials, etc.