Death of Steve Maia Caniço: the former prefect of Loire-Atlantique indicted for “manslaughter” – archyworldys

Claude d’Harcourt, the prefect of Loire-Atlantique in post at the time of the death in 2019 of Steve Maia Caniço in Nantes during a controversial police operation, was indicted, said Thursday evening, October 14, the prosecutor of Rennes, Philippe Astruc.

“This day, the prefect of Loire-Atlantique at the time of the facts, was indicted for manslaughter”, said the magistrate in a press release. Coming after those of several other protagonists of the case heard since the summer, the hearing of the prefect Claude d’Harcourt was expected in October.

“Subject to requests for additional acts, interrogations or confrontations which would be necessary, the end of the investigation could take place at the end of the year 2021 or the beginning of 2022 before the Rennes public prosecutor’s office is invited to take its requisitions (in a period of three months after the end of the investigation) on the referral or not of the persons implicated before the criminal court ”, specifies the press release from the prosecution.

Many other indictments

“The sub-prefect and Chief of Staff of the prefect of Loire-Atlantique at the time of the facts ”, as well as “ the police commissioner in charge of the system at the time of the events ” were also indicted for manslaughter in July, following the death of this young man of 24, who fell in the Loire, on the occasion of the Music Festival, “In the time of the intervention of the national police” , in the words of Mr. Astruc.

The PS mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, and his former deputy for security and public tranquility were placed in September under the status of assisted witness, as well as, in July, “The DDSP [Directeur départemental de la sécurité publique] deputy in post at the time of the facts ”.

The city and the metropolis of Nantes, of which Johanna Rolland is president, were placed in September under the status of witness assisted as legal persons. The assisted witness is a person implicated in a criminal case. It is an intermediate status between that of the witness and that of the accused.

Steve Maia Caniço, extracurricular animator, had disappeared after a police operation intended to put an end to an electro evening on the banks of the Loire on the night of June 21 to 22, 2019. His body had been found in the river for more than a month more late July 29.

Our selection of articles on the death of Steve Maia Caniço

Facts. On the night of June 21 to 22, 2019, at 4 a.m., police went to Quai Wilson in Nantes to disperse a techno party. Clashes broke out and participants said they were blinded by a cloud of tear gas; some, disoriented, fell into the river. Steve Maia Caniço, 24 years old, had been missing since that evening, until her body was found on July 29.
Investigation. Since the tragedy, the investigation has been particularly slow. The mobilization of his friends increased the media coverage and put pressure on the authorities. Investigation was finally disoriented in September in Rennes, at the request of the two Nantes investigating judges in charge of the case. His phone and a witness are at the heart of the latest advances in the investigation.
The IGPN report. The day after the discovery of the body, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) published a report claiming that there is no “Direct link between the intervention of the police and the disappearance of Mr. Steve Maia Caniço”. For our journalist specializing in the police, it’s a way of “Justify the police intervention while criticizing its methods”. In September, a report from the General Inspectorate of Administration estimated that the police commissioner on the ground had “lacked judgment”.
One after. “The police operation, as it was carried out, was madness” : one year after his death, his relatives express their bitterness.
The case summarized in video: What we know about the death of Steve Maia Caniço in Nantes.

The World with AFP

Many other indictments

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