It was during the 2019 Music Festival. The night of June 21 to 22. In Nantes, Steve Maia Caniço, 24-year-old extracurricular animator, falls into the Loire. He takes part in an electro evening on the Quai Wilson. Controversial police intervention. The young man, who cannot swim, falls into the river and drowns. His body will be found on July 29, 2019.
Jack Lang tribute and planned rally
Three years later, this disappearance still marks the spirits. Thus, on the eve of the Fête de la Musique, Jack Lang, former Minister of Culturewho kicked off the event on June 21, 1982, wrote on Twitter to wish “Pay homage to Steve Maia Caniço (…) by dedicating the 40th Fête de la Musique to him. Steve, symbol of joy, sharing, union, you will remain forever in our hearts.”
Otherwise, a rally in memory of the young man is planned from 6 p.m. this Tuesday, June 21 from Quai Wilson.
Measures taken by the prefecture for this 2022 edition
Three years after this tragedy, for this 2022 edition of the Music Festival – the first in a “classic” form since 2019 after two years of coronavirus – the Loire-Atlantique prefecture decided last week to ban undeclared festive gatherings of a musical nature until June 27. Understand rave-parties, free-parties, teknivals. Checks are announced. In the Banana Hangar sector, after one o’clock in the morning, there will be no concerts outside the establishments in the sector. Not on public roads. The Banana Shed sector is where Steve Maia Caniço disappeared.
On the judicial level
Let us recall that within the framework of the investigation into the death of Steve Maia Caniço, three people are charged with manslaughter : Commissioner Chassaing who was leading the police operation that night; the sub-prefect and chief of staff to the prefect of Loire-Atlantique at the time and Claude d’Harcourt, prefect of Loire-Atlantique in office in 2019. At the end of March 2022, they had announced their intention to challenge these indictments with the hope of being placed under the status of assisted witness. The investigating chamber of the Rennes Court of Appeal is due to consider these requests in early July.
Three people are already placed under assisted witness status in this case. The deputy departmental director of public security, in office at the time of the events, the mayor of Nantes Johanna Rolland and the deputy mayor in charge of security at the time of the events. The town hall of Nantes and Nantes Métropole are also placed under the status of assisted witness as legal persons. This is an intermediate status between that of the witness and that of the accused.