Death of Steve Maia Caniço: a commissioner indicted for manslaughter

The divisional commissioner Grégoire Chassaing, in charge of the police system at the time of the fall in the Loire of Steve Maia Caniço in Nantes in June 2019, was indicted for manslaughter, we learned Tuesday from the Rennes prosecutor's office.

"He disputes the grounds and terms of his indictment but he does not wish to comment on an ongoing investigation," his lawyer Louis Cailliez told AFP.

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Another commissioner, Thierry Palermo, departmental director of public security at the time of the facts, was placed under the status of witness assisted at the end of his hearing on Monday by the investigating judge in charge of the case, according to Rennes prosecutor Philippe Astruc. 

Six natural persons and two legal persons convened

Six natural persons and two legal persons are summoned by the examining magistrate in this case, by the end of September.

The other people summoned are the mayor (PS) of Nantes Johanna Rolland and his former security assistant Gilles Nicolas, the former prefect of Loire-Atlantique Claude d'Harcourt as well as the chief of staff of the prefect in post at the time of the facts. .

The town hall of Nantes and Nantes Métropole are also convened as legal persons.

Steve Maia Caniço, a 24-year-old extracurricular animator, had disappeared after a controversial police operation during an electro evening on the banks of the Loire on the night of June 21 to 22, 2019. His body was found drowned in the river over a month later. The analysis of the readings of his telephone made it possible to locate the moment of his fall in the Loire at 04:33, "that is to say in the time of the intervention of the national police force" on the Wilson quay where the evening took place, had indicated mi -June the Rennes prosecutor.