The mayor of Plan-de-la-Tour prosecuted for moral harassment

The message was sent to all elected officials by email on May 7. In this short letter, the first deputy mayor of Plan-de-la-Tour, Alexandre Latil, informed the councilors that the mayor, Laurent Giubergia, requested the functional protection of the commune ⁽¹⁾ in view of his summons before the criminal court on June 10.

For what reason? His accusation in a moral harassment procedure against the person who was his office colleague at the beginning of his term.

A few months after the second round of the 2020 elections (won by Laurent Giubergia's list), Audrey Delamare was part of the communications group during the campaign.

Also a running mate of "Together for our village spirit", she had been asked to join the mayor's office from October 2020.

Deteriorating working conditions?

The facts that will be examined extend over the period from September 2022 to March 2023. The allegations include comments and behaviors that affected the working conditions of this employee, in direct contact with the chief magistrate in the exercise of this function: suppression of missions, erasure of internal information loops, questioning of her loyalty, these are the range of facts that the justice system wants to assess.

This employee had been dismissed for breach of trust, a claim brought before the administrative court, which upheld her departure. When contacted, Audrey Delamare preferred to let the courts take their course, which will rule on June 10.

On the phone, Mayor Laurent Giubergia confirmed this request for protection, linking this affair to the departure of his former colleague "dismissed at the beginning of the mandate, on the basis of a broken trust. A few months after this dismissal, I am attacked on facts that had never been mentioned," notes the mayor who sees a political dimension in this case.

The opposition is manifesting itself

In a local political context already highly inflammatory in view of the upcoming municipal elections, certain opposition parties have seized on this affair which has become public.

Elected official Thierry Réveillon reacted because, he said, "since the next council meeting on May 22 has been canceled [postponed to June 12], I will not be able to speak before the date of this summons. The mayor has the right to protection, " he stated in the preamble. "But this raises questions. I am happy to defend the mayor, but the purpose of this protection must be linked to his role as mayor. In my interpretation, this is individual behavior detached from his role."

1. With the law passed on March 21, 2024, aimed at strengthening the security and protection of elected officials, the granting of functional protection is automatic, without prior decision by the municipal council, for elected officials who are victims of violence, threats or insults. To elected officials who request it, it is granted provided that they meet the conditions to benefit from it, in particular with regard to the nature of the facts which must be linked to elected functions.