The association of French mayors of Hautes-Pyrénées (AMF65) denounced what it said was a
“disproportionate”
sentence for a city councilor to be suspended after the accidental drowning of a 2-year-old girl in 2023, according to a motion voted on Friday and obtained Monday by AFP.
The mayor of the village of Villembits (Hautes-Pyrénées) was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in prison for
“manslaughter”
.
The tragedy took place during a party in her village in August 2023, when a mother who had consumed alcohol and cannabis fell into a stream in the middle of the night, with the stroller in which her daughter was. , who did not survive.
The mother was released, but the mayor and the president of the party committee were given suspended prison sentences because alcohol had been served when it was prohibited, and the party had taken place near the river and not in the room where it was initially planned by municipal decree.
“We looked for a culprit”
This decision by the Tarbes court led the AMF65 board of directors to denounce
“a disproportionate sanction for an elected official faced with a dramatic accident in his municipality”
.
“All the elected officials in the department were very shocked”
when the decision was announced, Viviane Artigalas, president of AMF65 and senator for Hautes-Pyrénées, told AFP.
“We have the impression that we were looking for someone to blame.”
According to the AMF65, mayors of small towns have
“fewer human and financial resources”
to ensure the safety of their constituents, and are
“often lonely, but with the same personal responsibilities”
as their colleagues in larger communities.
During the trial, the mayor explained that he had expressed his disagreement when he learned that the party would take place outside, without daring to cancel it:
“I couldn't see myself doing that
,” he said.