Covid management: the Court of Cassation cancels the indictment of Agnès Buzyn

Turnaround in the survey on the management of the health crisis in France.

The Court of Cassation announces this Friday the cancellation of the indictment of Agnès Buzyn, the former Minister of Health, "by the investigating commission of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for endangering of others following the health crisis linked to Covid-19".

⚖️ [Press release] The Court of Cassation cancels the indictment of a former Minister of Health by the investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic for endangering others following the health crisis related to Covid-19.

>> https://t.co/BzOiRcgqup pic.twitter.com/A4V18GIW4C

– Court of Cassation (@Courdecassation) January 20, 2023

The Court of Cassation indicates in particular that “the offense of endangering the life of others can only be blamed on a person if a law or regulation imposes on him a particular obligation of prudence or security (…)”.

And continues: “However, none of the texts to which the investigating committee referred to indict the former Minister of Health provides for any particular obligation of caution or safety”.

Agnès Buzyn has always defended herself for not having acted when the coronavirus epidemic appeared in China before gradually spreading to Europe.

“Not only had I seen but warned.

I was, by far in Europe, the most alert minister.

But no one cared”, according to remarks reported last October by the daily Le Monde which had obtained “a newspaper written by the ex-minister” from the end of 2019 to the summer of 2021.

Read also“I spoke in a vacuum”: Agnès Buzyn confides in the beginnings of the health crisis

The cancellation of this indictment places “automatically” Agnès Buzyn under the status of “assisted witness”.

"She remains implicated, but she is no longer directly accused of an offense", adds the Court of Cassation.

An investigation started in July 2020

In its press release, the highest jurisdiction of the French judicial order also announces that it will cancel “the hearings of members of the government which were carried out by one or two members of the investigating committee and not by its three members”.

The magistrates of the CJR, have been investigating since July 7, 2020 the government's management of the crisis after having received several complaints denouncing in particular the lack of protective equipment for caregivers and the population, or even the errors on the need or not to wear masks.

Agnès Buzyn was indicted in September 2021, following her hearing by magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic.

The latter had estimated that there was enough evidence to incriminate the doctor, appointed minister in 2017, in his management of the health crisis.

Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe was placed under the status of assisted witness for endangering the lives of others and voluntary abstention from fighting a disaster, following a hearing at the CJR in October 2022.