The mayor (Socialist Party, PS) of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, “Was placed under the status of assisted witness” in the investigation into the death of Steve Maia Caniço, his lawyers announced on Wednesday (September 15th).
The 24-year-old man was found dead on the banks of the Loire, several weeks after a police operation on the island of Nantes during the Music Festival in 2019.
Heard Wednesday, “Johanna Rolland answered all the questions and provided all the explanations requested (…) to contribute to the manifestation of the truth legitimately awaited by the family and relatives of Steve Maia Caniço ”, specify in a press release his two lawyers, Hervé Témime and Fabian Lahaie.
A sub-prefect and a police commissioner indicted
In particular, a sub-prefect and a police commissioner were indicted for ” manslaughter “ in this case, two years after the fatal fall of the young man in the Loire, on the night of June 21 to 22, 2019.
The status of assisted witness is intermediate between that of indictment and that of simple witness. It designates the status of the person who is implicated during a judicial investigation, but who is not directly accused of committing an offense.
Represented during the hearing by a member of the general management of services, the city and metropolis of Nantes, including Mr.me Rolland is president, had been placed in July under the status of witness assisted as legal persons. Gilles Nicolas, former assistant to the security of the city of Nantes, and Claude d’Harcourt, former prefect of Loire-Atlantique, must also be heard by the examining magistrate by the end of September.
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 fell into the river during the night police intervention, according to the General Inspectorate of Administration (IGA), not to mention Steve Maia Caniço, whose body was not found until 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, had been missing since that evening, until his 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. The 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 affirming 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 is a way of “Justify the police intervention while criticizing its methods”. In September, a report from the general inspection of the administration estimated that the police commissioner on the ground had “lacked judgment”.
- One after. “The police operation, as it was carried out, was madness” : a 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.
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