It’s a story worthy of a film noir. To oust a political enemy, elected officials from the town hall of a large French city are said to have set up a sordid trap: filming the victim in the company of a gay escort boy, without his knowledge, then blackmailing him with the video.
According to the revelations of information site Mediapart, in August 2022, a plot was allegedly organized in the winter of 2014 by the entourage of the mayor of Saint-Etienne, Gaël Perdriau (Les Républicains), targeting his first deputy at the time, Gilles Artigues. The goal: to curb his political ambitions.
It was one of the instigators of the plot, Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, who confided in journalists and sent them the documents, videos and recordings, attesting to his confessions. He is a former close member of the municipal majority.
In this video we trace the history of this conspiracy which shook the city of Saint-Etienne and earned the mayor an exclusion from his party as well as a indicted for “blackmail”. Claiming his innocence, Gaël Perdriau is still mayor of Saint-Etienne.
And if you want to know more on the subject, we refer you to the report below.
“Understand in three minutes”
The explanatory videos that make up the “Understand in three minutes” series are produced by the Vertical Videos department of the World. Broadcast primarily on platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook, they aim to put major events into context in a short format and make the news accessible to everyone.
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