The new commander of the gendarmerie in New Caledonia, whose elected officials had requested the departure after the revelation by Mediapart of his conviction in 2020 for domestic violence, was relieved of his functions at his request, said Friday August 20 the ministry of the Interior.
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After an interview with the Director General of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN) Christian Rodriguez, "
Colonel (Eric) Steiger has chosen to ask to be relieved of his duties in New Caledonia
", wrote Beauvau in a press release.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin "
took note of this decision
" and a new commander will "be
appointed soon
", continues the text. In a letter addressed to Gerald Darmanin consulted by AFP, the colonel denounces an investigation "
exclusively dependent
" on
Mediapart
, "
without offering me any right of reply
". The news site gave the floor in its article to his lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, who explained in particular that his client was not a "
slugger of women
".
"
I do not wish that the attacks against me can lead to doubt the commitment of the State and the commitment of the gendarmerie in the fight against domestic violence
", he continues in his letter to justify his request to be called to “
new functions outside New Caledonia
”.
Several elected officials had arrested Thursday, August 19 Gérald Darmanin to obtain the replacement of the high-ranking official, reminding him that he had recently assured that "
any gendarme convicted of domestic violence should no longer be in contact with the public
".
Sentenced for physical and psychological violence
These reactions followed the revelation on Wednesday August 18 by the news site
Mediapart that
Eric Steiger, appointed commander of the gendarmerie in New Caledonia on July 8, was sentenced last May for physical and psychological violence against his wife.
This 48-year-old colonel was sentenced at first instance in February 2020 to a six-month suspended prison sentence for violence committed between November 2017 and June 2018, before seeing his sentence reduced on appeal to a fine of 6,000 euros by the court of call from Paris.
Mediapart
specified that the wife of Eric Steiger had, in her complaint filed in June 2018, explained to have been blocked against a cupboard with her head violently twisted and to have been treated "
of illiterate, dirt or big bitch
".
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Eric Steiger arrived in New Caledonia in August 2020 as second in command of the gendarmerie before being promoted.