The gendarmes are continuing their investigation into the threatening letters addressed to an elected member of the municipal council, who ended up resigning.
The Ortaffa “crow” affair continues to make waves in the town of 1,800 inhabitants. At the end of 2022, a series of anonymous letters shook local political life. Julie Ballaneda, a deputy mayor who joined the opposition, was the main target.
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These missives, full of threats and blackmail, demanded his resignation under penalty of disclosing personal information. The circle of recipients of these letters then expanded to include his family, his employer, and even other dissident members of the municipal council. She ended up resigning in January 2023, not without filing several complaints with the Elne gendarmerie.
“I was present”
The matter then took a new turn during a meeting of the municipal council, where a vote was to be taken on whether the municipality would cover the legal costs of the elected officials concerned. On this occasion, the mayor, Raymond Pla, revealed that he had also received a letter from the “crow” at the town hall. In addition, he and his first assistant, Marie-Pierre Sadourny, also vice-president of the departmental council, were targeted by letters from “reprints of an article from L’Indépendant with accusations and humiliating annotations” at their home. Their complaints, filed for “contempt and defamation”, were “closed without further action because the investigation did not make it possible to identify the perpetrators”confirmed the prosecution.
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Pyrénées-Orientales: the “crow” still hovers in Ortaffa
The investigation into the initial “crow” that targeted Julie Ballaneda is continuing and has recently taken on a new avatar. Ortaffa town hall, closed to the public these days, was searched on Thursday December 26, confirms Mayor Raymond Pla. “I was present” at the time of the operation carried out by the gendarmes of the Elne brigade, explains the councilor who also confirms the seizure of a town hall computer. According to our information, it could be that of the general secretariat. “They are looking for the author of an anonymous letter,” concludes Raymond Pla laconically.
