The French gendarmerie registers the address of the Minister of Health for his management of the pandemic

The office and home of the French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and other senior officials and former officials of the Government of Emmanuel Macron, including his former Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, have been registered this Thursday in the framework of a judicial investigation regarding his management of the coronavirus health crisis.

In addition to the current head of Health and his

the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, the homes of Philippe, who left the head of Government in July, of his then spokesman, Sibeth Ndiaye, and of the Former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, responsible for managing the crisis in the first moments of the pandemic, just before the national confinement in March, judicial sources confirmed to EL PAÍS.

The procedure is part of the actions following the judicial investigation opened last July by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the competent body to try members of the Government for alleged crimes committed in the framework of their functions, following the complaints of several victims of covid-19 who believe that senior officials were delayed in their actions to stop the spread of the virus.

As announced at the time by the Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation under which the CJR acts, it was decided to open a “judicial information for refraining from fighting a claim”, that is, leaving functions for not having taken forceful measures in the face of the epidemic that already was coming.

Airé Allimi, the lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, the Inter Urgences health union, explained on the BFMTV station that one of the objectives of the lawsuit is "to determine who is responsible for the absence of protective material" in the first moments of the crisis.

“The Government did not allow health personnel to protect themselves against a disease when they knew the means to protect themselves (…).

It is about knowing if they knew that the epidemic was coming and did not take the measures to protect the health workers, ”said Allimi.

Like other countries, France suffered in the first months of the pandemic from a serious lack of masks and other protective materials.

Gendarmes from the Central Office for Combating Attacks on the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP) carried out the searches this Thursday, according to French media.

The Ministry of Health only confirmed that the records of Véran and Salomon, the only two investigated by the Government currently in office, were carried out "without difficulties."

A judicial source explained to this newspaper that the decision to search the homes of the former senior officials is "a normal procedure", since for example Philippe, not being prime minister, "could keep files at home" that he took from your old office and that might serve to clarify your role.

After being replaced by Jean Castex, Philippe resumed his post as mayor of Le Havre.

In any case, the source stressed, none of those investigated has yet been charged, nor is there yet a date set for their possible questioning.

The police action came hours after President Macron announced last night a new imposition of the state of health emergency since Saturday.

This measure allows the Government to have a legal framework to adopt forceful actions, such as the night curfew imposed on the nine main cities of the country, including Paris, also starting this Saturday and for at least one month.

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