Agde: the Gilles D’Ettore affair shakes up an electrical municipal council

Un baptême du feu musclé pour le 1er adjoint Sébastien Frey. MIDI LIBRE – DORIAN CAYUELA

Sous les yeux d’environ 300 personnes, le 1er adjoint de la ville d’Agde Sébastien Frey a fait face au feu nourri d’une opposition remontée comme jamais.

Between a municipality which had rallied its support from the start and opponents wound up like clocks since the revelation of the incredible affair of mayor Gilles D’Ettore and the clairvoyant Sophia Martinez, the municipal council on Thursday evening smelled of sulfur like never before.

An interview in town hall on the morning of the council meeting

Nearly 300 people attended this council, seated throughout the room and in calm, even if the tension was palpable. FREE NOON – DORIAN CAYUELA

Wisely, Sébastien Frey, 1st deputy responsible for ensuring the interim since the placement in pre-trial detention of the mayor of Agde, had invited the two leaders of the opposition, Doctor Thierry Nadal and the ;rsquo;elected member of the National Rally Fabienne Varesano, to come and talk to the town hall the same morning, with the aim of defusing some tensions, particularly on the side of activists, some of whom had feared the worst (invading the room, blocking of the municipal council & hellip 😉 on social networks. If Fabienne Varesano responded favorably to the invitation, this was not the case for Thierry Nadal, who justified himself by his desire "to discuss publicly, in complete transparency and not on a corner of a table." Refusal which did not prevent the session from taking place completely normally in front of nearly 300 people who wisely listened to each other's arguments, without any vociferations. A good point for democracy.

The delicate exercise of the oral question

What remained for Sébastien Frey, master of ceremonies in spite of himself, was to face the heavy fire of the opposition during the exercise of oral questions at the start of the session. It was he who opened this political parenthesis during a solemn declaration, where he called "to consider the seriousness of such a legal procedure and the possible consequences ." And if he said "understand the emotion aroused", he assured the Agathois that "municipal action would experience neither interruption nor slowdown."

Thierry Nadal requests resignations

Thierry Nadal requested the resignation of the mayor as well as that of the municipal councilors of the majority. FREE NOON – DORIAN CAYUELA

Not enough to soften Doctor Thierry Nadal, whose tone has hardened considerably. This is how he asked"the immediate resignation of Gilles D’Ettore, as well as that of his deputies and the municipal councilors of the majority. This is the only way not to condone these abuses, the only way to give the Agathois a voice again, with early municipal elections." The latter mentioned again the Agathois "who were deceived, even betrayed for some. The image of Agde is damaged, soiled, ridiculed. We are living through a serious moment, the likes of which our city rarely experiences."

"A serious accusation" for Frey

Sébastien Frey, in a response written beforehand, plunged into the emotional gap. "Everyone must ensure that the emotions they experience do not overwhelm them. I therefore put the request made to the municipal councilors down to your emotion. There is no woman or man here whose integrity has not been called into question. Demanding their resignation amounts to publicly calling into question their integrity. This is a very serious accusation. Thierry Nadal energetically defended himself on the microphone a few moments later.

Varesano's legal questions

Fabienne Varesano expressed her questions about this matter. FREE NOON – DORIAN CAYUELA

For her part, Fabienne Varesano, in a more legal and precise register, asked four questions: "the director of the Municipal Technical Center (and spouse of Sophia Martinez, the clairvoyant involved in the affair, Editor's note) did he have the skills required for this position and who signed his contract ? Did the municipality -she intends to become a civil party in this case in order to have the embezzled funds returned if it is proven ? Will the City cover the legal costs of Gilles D& rsquo;Ettore ? And if he is convicted in the first instance, what will you decide to do: will you ask for his resignation ? "

Faced with another question from the municipal councilor, the 1st deputy first announced that the mayor "no longer received his allowances."&amp ;nbsp;On the recruitment of the clairvoyant's relatives, he assured that no more "none of these people appeared in the municipal workforce." On the constitution of civil party, "in the absence of information other than that published in the press", Sébastien Frey was awaiting confirmation of damage suffered by the City. Same story on the conduct that the municipal majority would adopt in the event of conviction of Gilles D’Ettore: "responding today would contravene the principle of the presumption of rsquo;innocence." The mayor who, in any event, will not benefit from his functional protection. In other words: legal costs will be directly charged to him.

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