A plot worthy of spy films shakes the town of Saint-Etienne (Loire). According to revelations from Mediapart, the city’s first centrist deputy between 2014 and 2022, Gilles Artigues, was the victim of political blackmail for eight years. This after being trapped and filmed without his knowledge in the company of an escort-boy by the entourage of the current mayor Les Républicains (LR) of Saint-Etienne, Gaël Perdriau.
The city councilor and two men accused of being at the origin of the video are the subject of a complaint for “aggravated blackmail, ambush in an organized gang, embezzlement of public funds and non-denunciation of criminal acts”, filed Monday 29 August by Gilles Artigues, according to the public prosecutor of Saint-Etienne. Franceinfo takes stock of this case.
Gilles Artigues, former deputy mayor of Saint-Etienne, victim of intimate video blackmail
According to Mediapart, the case dates back to the winter of 2014 and involves two main protagonists in addition to Gilles Artigues : Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, at the time elected to the Municipal Council of Saint-Etienne and now regional councilor in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and his ex-companion Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, at the origin of the revelations.
According to the account of Mediapart, the two protagonists took advantage of a meeting in Paris to film, without his knowledge, the former centrist first deputy of Saint-Etienne in a Parisian hotel room in the company of an escort-boy . “A camera was slipped into a corner of a hotel room, without Gilles Artigues being informed”, so writes Mediapart. The escort-boy paid by Samy Kéfi-Jérôme was not aware of this trap.
“After this evening at the hotel, Samy Kéfi-Jérôme returns to Saint-Etienne with a raw video of 30 minutes 33 seconds in which the escort performs an erotic massage by Gilles Artigues. The chosen one appears naked on the bed , the shirtless escort. The film does not show any sexual relationship, but its content is sufficiently compromising for the first deputy”, details Mediapart.
According to the investigative media, this recording was then used to blackmail Gilles Artigues, “father very involved in the Catholic community”, so that the compromising video is not broadcast. The goal? “Containing the influence of the centrist elected official”says Mediapart, but also avoid “political dissent”. In 2008, his candidacy for the second round of municipal elections divided the right and contributed to the election of Maurice Vincent (PS).
The mayor of Saint-Etienne, Gaël Perdriau, questioned by one of the protagonists
Is Gaël Perdriau linked to this blackmail? And if so, how much? This is one of the issues in this case. Gilles Rossary-Lenglet tells Mediapart that the LR mayor of Saint-Etienne and his chief of staff, Pierre Gauttieri, are on the move. “After the municipal elections of 2014, Gaël [Perdriau] and his chief of staff quickly said that Gilles Artigues and his enormous centrist group had to be managed within the majorityfirst explains Gilles Rossary-Lenglet. They mandated Samy [Kéfi-Jérôme] to show the short video [à l’élu centriste]. The message was clear: Gilles Artigues shouldn’t make a difference if he didn’t want the video to come out”, he then accuses.
He also claims to have touched with Samy Kéfi-Jérôme “50,000 euros” on the part of the municipality, via subsidies paid to Saint-Etienne associations which would then have remunerated him. Mayor Gaël Perdriau and his chief of staff Pierre Gauttieri both deny having been informed of this operation.
Samy Kéfi-Jérôme asserted the protection of his “private life” to refuse to answer Mediapart’s questions, while denouncing “confabulations” of her ex-boyfriend. Gilles Rossary-Lenglet explained to Mediapart that he had no “nothing to lose” to raise this case, an act of “daubing” according to him.
A complaint filed by Gilles Artigues
Three days after the release of the Mediapart investigation, a complaint for “aggravated blackmail, ambush in an organized gang, embezzlement of public funds and non-denunciation of criminal acts” was filed on Monday August 29 by Gilles Artigues, according to the public prosecutor of Saint-Etienne, David Charmatz. It targets Gilles Rossary-Lenglet and Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, as well as Gaël Perdriau.
The mayor of Saint-Etienne said on Saturday that he had “at this stage no comments to make on a video” that he affirms not to see sight. He “firmly contests any notion of blackmail against Gilles Artigues”.
Asked by AFP about the belated nature of his client’s complaint, Me André Buffard explains that“At the start, Gilles Artigues was not aware of what had really happened in this hotel room”, in particular having the feeling of having been drugged. Then he gave in to blackmail “for the sake of preserving his family and loved ones”.
Gilles Artigues evokes a blackmail which “rotten his life”
While he resigned last May from his position as first deputy, Gilles Artigues reacted on his Facebook account on Monday, saying that this blackmail had “rotten the life”. “I would like to thank you for the hundreds of messages of support that you have sent to me since Mediapart revealed the conspiracy of which I was the victim. This life which is so beautiful and which I have several times thought of leaving , so desperate was I”said the man who had abruptly interrupted his legislative campaign in the spring despite his LR-UDI nomination.
The deputy Nupes de la Loire, Andrée Taurinya, whose 2nd constituency covers the city of Saint-Etienne, spoke of her “deep disgust” and one “despicable homophobic blackmail“. The firm of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has announced the withdrawal of Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, until then delegated adviser for digital strategy.