Overwhelming recordings for the mayor of Saint-Etienne

The

information site , at the origin of the opening of a judicial investigation for "political blackmail" after a complaint against the mayor LR of Saint-Étienne Gaël Perdriau and one of his deputies, publishes damning recordings on Monday for the elected official and his chief of staff.

At the heart of this affair, a sexual video recorded in 2014 while Gilles Artigues, former municipal deputy and ex-MP known for his Catholic commitment, was being massaged by a man in a hotel room in Paris.

To thwart this blackmail, the elected centrist himself recorded conversations with the mayor and his chief of staff Pierre Gautierri.

Recordings sent to investigators, according to

, which publishes audio extracts.

“Your children will receive a copy of the film”

“I have a video showing you the ass in the air with a guy.

It does not bother you ?

The very Catholic deputy Gilles Artigues very good father in something like that?

“Launches the chief of staff in an audio recording dating from July 2018 according to Mediapart.

When Gilles Artigues warns him that he could go to court, he replies: “if you do that, all the parents and students who are in the same class as your children will receive a copy of the film (…) and I think your children won't recover.

"There are other ways to do it, we are not obliged to broadcast publicly", adds the voice of the mayor on this audio tape, referring to a broadcast "in small circles, with parsimony".

"It's no longer blackmail, it's an execution"

In another recording dated November 27, 2017 and still in the presence of the mayor, according to

, we hear the chief of staff say that he "works exactly as a criminal can work: in the same way, I have no faith nor law”.

“If the fact that I go to jail makes you fall because you pass for an old pedal on the return (…) I have no problem”, he affirms.

"Once it's on the networks, it's no longer blackmail, it's an execution," warns the mayor in this recording.

"Nasty accusations"

Contacted by AFP, Gaël Perdriau and his lawyer were not available on Monday.

After the publication by

of the detailed confessions of one of the organizers of the blackmail, the mayor of Saint-Étienne denounced the "despicable accusations" saying he was in a hurry to be heard by the judicial police.

A part of the disorienting investigation at the Lyon prosecutor's office relates to the remuneration of the person who organized the filming of the video and claims to have been paid via fictitious services invoiced to two associations financed by the municipality.

Justice

Sextape blackmail in Saint-Etienne: A search carried out at the town hall

Policy

Sextape blackmail in Saint-Etienne: Mayor Gaël Perdriau denounces "despicable accusations"

• sextape

• Blackmail

• Saint Etienne

• Justice

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes