March 16, 2022, late afternoon.Nadia Mostefa Gares her car in a parking lot on rue Favre de Saint-Castor, west of Montpellier.The 42 -year -old gendarmerie captain decided to end her life by getting worse with fire.Motorists who see his body in flames coming out of the small orange SUV, alert firefighters.Alas, it is too late.Nadia Mostefa is seriously injured.She died the next day, on a hospital bed in the burn service from the University Hospital Center (CHU) in Lapeyronie.
The emotion is immense, the tributes numerous.The press looks at history and discovers that the gendarmerie captain had just lost custody of her six -year -old son for the benefit of her former spouse.This is the reason for his suicide.For everyone, the case is heard.Except that history is actually a little more complicated.To his personal injuries are added serious professional problems that his hierarchy would prefer to slide under the carpet.
Streetpress has obtained several unpublished documents, reports and written appeals from the hand of Nadia Mostefa, which question some of her superiors.The grade has been fighting for several years against the harassment of its hierarchy and the "excess of power" of the military institution, questioning in particular the general Thierry C. The forty -something of Algerian origin had also thrown himself with his loved onesAnd colleagues at the sexism and racism she considered to be a victim.Put in forced sick leave for more than a year, she denounced the refusal to take into account the domestic violence she suffered.
To understand how the professional life of the gendarmerie captain has become a nightmare, you have to start by retracing the dramas of his intimate life.At the beginning of 2016, the official and her spouse suddenly separated, just a few months after the birth of their son.Nadia Mostefa files a complaint for violence and marital rape and violence against the child several times.His spouse will obtain a dismissal in these cases.But the young mother will be entrusted with the custody of their toddler and an educational investigation is put in place.Between the two parents, relations are extremely tense to the point that relatives must bring the child to his father so that they do not meet.
Nadia Mostefa filed a complaint several times against her ex-spouse for violence and marital rape and for violence against the child.He will obtain a dismissal in these cases./crédits: Aurélie Garnier
At that time, the young mother was a communications officer of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes gendarmerie region.Posting in the Lyon metropolis, it is called a "little gray": these members of the technical and administrative body of the gendarmerie who are not on the ground.Nadia Mostefa grew up in a modest family from a small village in Moselle.She entered the gendarmerie at 22 years old and brilliantly climbed the ladder until the grade of captain.
“Nadia was at the crossroads of both worlds.She had a very simple and warm side that made her so talented to the com ’.It allowed him to have good relations with all journalists in the region.But this dynamic little girl who shakes up the codes could also bristle the hair of old white men holding power, "says Élodie (1), a very good friend of Nadia Mostefa who knows the mysteries of the gendarmerie well for having been part.
His professional master stroke takes place in 2019. Nadia Mostefa is organizing a giant flashmob at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne.The event makes tens of thousands of views, attracts televisions and reports more than 40,000 euros to the association "Gendarmes de Coeur".
It was the same year that private life and professional life are intertwined for Nadia Mostefa.Gendarmerie officers are generally transferred every three or four years.In early 2018, she asked to be assigned to Dijon to move away from her violent ex-spouse.Except that the latter, who works in the private sector, is himself transferred to this city.The gendarme therefore changes his request, for the benefit of another locality.
The HIC: On March 5, 2019, Nadia Mostefa learns that she is promoted to the prestigious head of the Communication Cabinet of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region ... in Dijon.Both flattered and annoyed, she then exposes her personal situation to general of the army corps Philippe G., commander of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes gendarmerie region, hoping that his assignment is changed.
But nothing helps.The commander of the Burgundian region, General Thierry C., heard of his successful operation in Saint-Etienne.He wants it at home, at all costs!The captain resolves to settle in Dijon and buy an apartment located opposite the new home of her old companion.
A few weeks after his arrival, in August 2019, things are seriously spoiling.After having filed yet another complaint against her ex, Nadia Mostefa is exhausted by her personal situation.She decides to confide in her superiors, General Thierry C., who so much wanted to see her take the reins of the com ', and her assistant Colonel Laurent T. But rather than supporting her, the Grand Chef sees the emergenceIntimate problems of his subordinate in his office with a very bad eye.
In a report dated August 25, 2020 that Streetpress got, she writes:
"It is true that during these interviews, I cried and asked for help from my direct chief, to know how to live serenely.»»
Further on, she adds:
"I was very disappointed and sad that justice is once again taking this story lightly when it has been going on for more than five years.»»
The following days, rather than supporting him, General Thierry C. would then have radically changed his attitude.He would have become "suspicious and very distant", she writes.On October 11, 2019, she was summoned to an audition by the general, accompanied by Colonel, who would have told him that he regretted having entrusted him with the position.According to Nadia Mostefa, he would have left her:
"You will sooner or later end up because of your personal concerns.»»
Six days later, on Thursday October 17, 2019, around 8:45 am, an altercation with the senior officer takes place.Nadia Mostefa says he has headed for the office of Thierry C. to make him sign a document.The door being closed, she is waiting for her in front, she said.And it was on this occasion that she intends to scream on the phone that he wants to get rid of her.The general says that he had a private discussion and that he was listening to the doors.In the corridor, the tone rises between the two officers.
In October 2019, Nadia heard her superior on the phone say that he wants to get rid of her./Credits: Aurélie Garnier
Vannick, friend of Nadia Mostefa since 2019 and journalist in a local newspaper in Dijon, is one of the few people to whom the captain had told in detail her version of the stormy episode."He shouted that she was unfair.Then he revealed before all his colleagues that she was the victim of domestic violence and that it was not a reason to afford everything, "recalls the newspaper.Nadia Mostefa would then have taken refuge in her office to remove her uniform and put on her civilian outfit.The general, accompanied by other gendarmes, drumm at his door before coming to hands: he would have caught it by the shoulder or by the pass, depending on the versions.An additional public humiliation for the captain.
Just after the event, Nadia Mostefa also confided by phone to Colonel Arnaud (1).A superior officer who also worked under the orders of General Thierry C. for two years.He agreed to testify, provided that his name does not appear."She was afraid of having been mistreated because she was a Maghreb woman," he reveals.A feeling confirmed by Élodie, the close friend of Nadia Mostefa:
"She said to me:" Anyway, in their eyes, I am only a rebeu Soc case that stood with the bad guy and finds herself a single mother. "»»
"There is one thing I am sure of is that General [Thierry C.] was neither racist nor misogynist," defends Colonel Arnaud before confessing that his ex-boss is "not a guyvery nice "."He had mood swings, he's not an easy chef.He had advised Captain Mostefa to "draw a line" on this whole affair and "raise his head":
"You came across an idiot ..."
After her brutal exchange with the general, Nadia Mostefa is not well.She is placed on sick leave for six months by her attending physician.In a report sent on January 20, 2020 to the General of the Army Bruno J., major general of the national gendarmerie, she writes about her Dijon experience:
"I was ejected from my post after a month and a half only because I am the victim of the actions of my ex-spouse in my private life, since absolutely no criticism was formulated to me during my time of command.»»
In an appeal dated July 20, 2020, Nadia Mostefa also denounces the "harassment" of General Thierry C., who would have made sure to ostracize him by asking other officers to no longer have contact with her.She also writes that "[her] state of health continues to deteriorate" and that "no one has taken a step back during [her] time of illness to apologize and find an“ amicable ”solution to thissituation.»»
After her brutal exchange with the general, Nadia Mostefa is not well.It is placed on sick leave for six months./credits: Aurélie Garnier
General Thierry C., now retired, responded to Streetpress."The current judicial inquiry does not allow me to express myself on the circumstances of this drama, which I regret," he wrote but specifies that he is "in total disagreement with the version of the facts presented".He also insists on his multiple commitments against racism and for the management of psycho-social risks:
"I worked throughout my career to change the interior institutions.»»
If at that time General Thierry C. had a behavior with Nadia Mostefa which she describes as harassment and tense relations with several of her subordinates, it is perhaps because he is also in great suffering.A week before the altercation, the general would have tried to commit suicide in the garage of his house, located within the barracks.He was allegedly discovered at the end of a rope by two gendarmes who detached him and agreed not to move the case.A drama confirmed by several relatives of the file.Nadia Mostefa was aware of an email for her hierarchy, written by the young woman (2) that Streetpress got.She writes :
"Harassment suffered [...] forced me to flee my office and ask a doctor to put myself on sick leave [...] I never intended to make the TS public [suicide attempt] of theGDI [General of Division] C. and as you know, I have enough elements in my Dijon file to justify that I have not committed any human and/or professional failure.»»
Thierry C., himself in a great mental discomfort, was afraid of seeing Nadia Mostefa reveal her big secret by slamming the door."This suicide attempt explains that the institution has felt so threatened.In this world, it's super taboo.Such a powerful general risk if it is learned, "confirms Élodie:
"Nadia would never have balanced.She had flawless admiration for the institution.Even when big assholes who are not worthy of them put him on the face.»»
Persona non grata in Dijon, Nadia Mostefa is moved to Montpellier.She takes office of the Human Resources department, within the staff of the Hérault Grouping, in the summer of 2020. In the sunny south, the woman regains taste for life.Its integration is going well.She has the feeling of being able to start from scratch.
Read also: Cries of monkey and insults, Fatiha accuses a general of racism
But on November 19, 2020, the ghosts of Dijon caught her.More than a year after hanging with General Thierry C., she is a 15 -day stop.He is criticized for him, among other things, for having torn initials, of having listened behind the door of the region commander but also - and the latter grievance was added a posteriori - for having allowed civilians to enter intoThe barracks in defiance of the Vigipirate rules during an open house operation dating from October 9, 2019. Accusations all denied by Nadia Mostefa in her appeals.
The sanction was requested by General Thierry C., Colonel Laurent T., and remained in the HR drawers for months. Seeing this case resurface is a shock. But above all, his colleagues from Montpellier discover the extent of the file. In the military institution, we do not like scandals and rebellious heads. Nadia Mostefa, who until then was well integrated, becomes the bane of her hierarchy again. On October 26, 2020, his superior-General Jean-Valéry L.-sent Nadia Mostefa for the first time to the military doctor. From this date, she is put in sick leave against her will, and without receiving any diagnosis or treatment. A decision renewed after four times. In the high spheres, noises run on the psychological state of the captain. "An agent officer who treated his file at the HR level told me that she became paranoid. She saw the evil where there were tense hands, ”says Colonel Arnaud, who regrets not having made her a phone call since to get her news.
For Nadia Mostefa, sick leave is only a new pretext to put it on the sidelines, once again.In an administrative appeal sent to the controller general of the armies on February 13, 2021, she writes:
"The chief doctor D. has made no observation or issued the slightest prescription in order to recommend drug treatment, contenting himself with [me] depriving all activity for an indefinite period.»»
She even explains that she went "to a city psychiatrist doctor, former expert with the Montpellier Court of Appeal" to have "a third party opinion" on her state of health:
"No pathology or incapacity was noted.»»
General Jean-Valéry L., assistant commander at the Occitanie gendarmerie region at the time of the facts, has since been promoted.In August 2021, he was appointed head of the SIRPA, the French Armies Communication Service which did not answer our questions.He also did not wish, personally, to respond to Streetpress.His assistant Jean-Yves C., still stationed in Montpellier, either.
The gendarme tries to make its version heard.In the appeal dated February 13, 2021, she denounces repeated "excess of power" and the use of a "allegedly medical circumstance to dismiss him from her post." Wasted effort.Ousted from the military institution, it will never rework again.
From December 2020, Nadia Mostefa spent her days at home, aimed, while waiting to go and get her son from school.“She was completely lost.I had never seen her like that, "says her friend Élodie, who has known her since 2016." Nadia was not protected correctly and when it farted, we left her alone ", judges Vannick, convinced that"His death suits a good number of people".
When she kills herself, Nadia Mostefa had left her child with her nanny, her sports bag was ready."I think it rose to him suddenly," sighs his friend Vannick, still in shock./crédits: Aurélie Garnier
This is the descent into hell.Nadia Mostefa continues to denounce the abuse that her ex-companion would undergo their son.The six-year-old child returns from his weekends with his father, from the Blues to the face.But during the summer holidays 2021, the man counter-attacks.He notably accuses the mother of "parental alienation".A contested syndrome because too often used by the abused parent to question the word of the protective parent.No matter, it works.On August 27, 2021, the Montpellier children's judge issued an emergency provisional investment order with the father and his new companion.Nadia Mostefa lost her son's custody for the first time."She tells me that she touches the background, that she has never been so bad," recalls her Confident Vannick.But she continues to fight.
On February 28, 2022, after six months without her son, she breathed a little: she won her appeal trial before the Montpellier House of Minors and recovered custody.The child is not doing well.He is peeing in bed.Nadia Mostefa transmits the new elements to the Lyon family affairs judge, where another procedure is underway.She is confident.But the request for reopening the debates is rejected by the Lyon jurisdiction.
On March 16, 2022, barely fifteen days after he recovered custody of her son thanks to Montpellier justice, the Lyon court withdrew it.A decree of the Lyon Court of Appeal fixes the boy's residence at his ex-spouse.Nadia Mostefa's work problems have played against her.He is notably accused of having been transferred to Montpellier without having previously consulted the father.
Nadia Mostefa learns the news at the end of the day.She takes the wheel to the Celleneuve-Alco district.She beware 200 meters from the APEA premises, one of the educational associations that gave her opinion during the last trial in Lyon.There she kills herself by set fire to her car."Her child was with his nanny, his sports bag was ready, the races were done.It surprises me.I think it rose to him suddenly, "sighs Vannick, still in shock.
Before her suicide, Nadia would have been writing a book entitled Triple Pain./crédits: Aurélie Garnier
According to the premises, the captain was writing a book that was to be called Triple Sentence:
"Nadia wanted to talk about the gendarmerie, her legal fight for her son and being an Arab woman in this environment.»»
Her friend Élodie adds:
"The system turned against Nadia as one man.The two tips that gave meaning to his life was his job and his son.The gendarmerie withdrew his job with him, and her ex withdrawn from him.There was nothing left to keep her in life.»»
(1) Le prénom a été modifié.
(2) Il s’agit d’un brouillon que StreetPress s’est procuré, nous ne savons pas si elle l’a envoyé, mais il démontre qu’elle était au courant.
Contacted by StreetPress, the Information and Public Relations Service of the Armed Forces (SIRPA) and the Ministry of the Interior did not wish to answer our questions.
