More than two years after the death of Steve Maia Caniço during a controversial police operation, on the occasion of the Music Festival in Nantes, the mayor of the city, Johanna Rolland, “was placed under the status of witness attended, ”his lawyers announced on Wednesday.
On the night of June 21 to 22, 2019, the 24-year-old had a fatal fall in the Loire.
The elected PS was heard on Wednesday. "At the end of this hearing, the mayor of Nantes was placed under the status of assisted witness", specify in a press release his two lawyers, Hervé Témime and Fabian Lahaie. “Johanna Rolland answered all the questions and provided all the explanations requested on the preparation of the Fête de la musique in 2019 in Nantes to contribute to the manifestation of the truth legitimately expected by the family and relatives of Steve Maia Caniço “, Underline the lawyers.
A sub-prefect and a police commissioner were notably indicted for manslaughter in this case.
Represented during the hearing by a member of the general management of services, the city and metropolis of Nantes, of which Johanna Rolland is president, had been placed in July under the status of witness assisted as legal persons.
The investigation could end at the end of 2021
The former assistant to the security of the city of Nantes, Gilles Nicolas, and the former prefect of Loire-Atlantique, Claude d'Harcourt, must also be heard soon by the examining magistrate. In a press release this Wednesday evening, the Rennes prosecutor, Philippe Astruc, provided the following details: "The deputy mayor of Nantes in charge of security is summoned to appear before the investigating magistrate in the coming days, then, in October, the prefect of Loire-Atlantique at the time of the facts. "
"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 a referral or not of the people implicated before the criminal court, ”specifies the magistrate.
"The phase of collecting testimonies and technical elements allowing to have a precise vision of the unfolding of the events of June 22 and the modalities of preparation for the music festival has been globally since June 2021," he recalls.
Seven people who fell in the Loire
Finally, if the analysis of the victim's phone records had made it possible to locate his fall in the Loire at 4:33 am, "either in the time of the intervention of the national police", "the precise geolocation of Mr. Maia Caniço on the Quai Wilson at the time of its fall in the Loire could not, on the contrary, be technically established.
The testimonies collected, however, allow to locate it in the zone without barriers concerned by four other falls concomitant to the intervention of the police ”, according to the press release of the prosecutor.
Read also The story of the night of the drama
Steve Maia Caniço, 24-year-old extracurricular animator, had disappeared after a police operation intended to put an end to an electro evening on the banks of the Loire during this Music Festival.
Seven people had fallen in the Loire during the night intervention of the police, according to the General Inspectorate of Administration (IGA), without counting Steve Maia Caniço, whose body will not be found until July 29.
Johanna Rolland was chosen as campaign manager by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo (PS), who announced her candidacy for the next presidential election last weekend.
