Mayor of Concarneau charged with rape: residents demand his removal
Quentin Le Gaillard, mayor of Concarneau, has been charged with rape and sexual assault. Residents interviewed at the market nearly unanimously demand his temporary removal.
In Concarneau, the mayor's charge provokes call for removal
On Friday 18 September, the day after Quentin Le Gaillard was taken into custody in Brest, residents of Concarneau were already reacting to the matter even before the official announcement of his charge for rape and sexual assault. According to letelegramme.fr, the centre-right mayor was also placed under strict judicial control at the conclusion of the procedure.
On the steps of the Halles, where the weekly market was being held, the shock wave was palpable. Many passersby refused to speak. Those who did accept adopted an almost unanimous position: keeping the elected official at the head of the municipality seemed unthinkable to them.
"From the moment you are charged, you step back. Otherwise, you don't set a good example," said one resident, interviewed outside a shellfish farmer's van. Christian, encountered in the car park of the Criée, shares this view. "It is a matter of ethics towards the population and towards the condition of women too," he added.
In the inner harbour, a resident who had been living in Concarneau for two months was categorical. "It is impossible. It is immoral. The mayor represents the municipality. Being mayor is an essential function for residents. It is politics on our doorstep," she summed up.
Michelle, who divides her time between Paris and Concarneau, invoked practical arguments. "I think it is more reasonable for him to step back from current affairs, for a time, so that the climate calms down. The third-largest city in Finistère needs to be run serenely. However, the matter taints everything. It is not beneficial to the city," she testified.
A dissenting voice was nonetheless heard in a corner of the market. "We are supposed to separate private life and public life. We must let justice do its work. For me, this is not our concern," declared one resident, specifying that she had not voted for Le Gaillard.
Among young people, the reaction was equally strong. At Quai d'Aiguillon, a group of teenagers aged 14 to 16 described the situation as "inadmissible". "With everything that is happening in Concarneau, we talk about it much more, among ourselves, at the school. Especially for a mayor. He should already have been removed from his positions," one of them said.
Quentin Le Gaillard denies the allegations. At this stage of the procedure, he remains presumed innocent.
Source: Google News LU FR