New turning point in the Gilles d’Ettore affair. The former mayor of Agde indicted and placed in pre-trial detention since March 22 for embezzlement by a person holding public authority, illegal taking of interests and corruption, was released this Wednesday, announces the Béziers public prosecutor’s office in a press release. He is suspected of having granted a woman, presenting herself as a clairvoyant and medium, numerous privileges since their meeting in 2020.
“The investigating magistrates ordered the release of the former mayor of Agde, taking into account in particular the resignation of all his elected mandates since May 31, 2024 and the presentation of an accommodation project far from the department », at a friend’s house in Dordogne, details the public prosecutor of Béziers Raphaël Balland in his press release.
Gilles d’Ettore is placed under judicial supervision as of this Wednesday. The prosecution specifies that he is subject to several prohibitions and obligations: the former elected official must only reside with his friend, can no longer go to Hérault, cannot leave the national territory and cannot come into contact “with a long list of persons named by name”.
A “clairvoyant” with magical powers
The former mayor of Agde is suspected of having granted large favours to a clairvoyant, with whom he spoke more than ten times a day on the phone since 2020. He is also said to have recruited five people from the entourage of this 44-year-old woman within the commune or the urban area.
The clairvoyant was also indicted last March, this time for fraud and several counts of receiving stolen property. She had been placed in pre-trial detention. During her custody, she admitted “to having used a stratagem consisting of modifying her voice”. She managed to make her clients, or even those close to her, believe “that they were in conversation with a supernatural being coming from the beyond. » Among the victims of this deception: Gilles d’Ettore.
Still during her hearing by investigators, the clairvoyant admitted having “benefited from numerous services of a different nature, mainly from the mayor of Agde”. The use of “voice” would have been “decisive”, according to her, in the recruitment of those close to her within the municipality or urban area. Among them, the clairvoyant’s husband, who became technical director of the town hall.
The clairvoyant’s pre-trial detention extended?
A hearing was held this Wednesday at the Béziers judicial court to rule on a possible extension of the clairvoyant’s pre-trial detention. “During this hearing, taking into account in particular the release of the former mayor of Agde and the presentation of accommodation projects, the public prosecutor requested the placement under judicial supervision of the “clairvoyant” on condition in particular of requiring him to reside far from the department,” we can read in the press release from the prosecution. The detention freedoms judge will make his decision on Friday June 28, 2024.
“The release of Gilles d’Ettore corresponds to a fair application of our principles of freedom and presumption of innocence,” reacts Me Jean-Marc Darrigade, lawyer for Gilles d’Ettore, to Le Parisien. “He will be able to regain his strength, his dignity and work calmly in his defense. He remains, as since the beginning of this investigation, available to Justice to answer the questions that remain to be asked. »
