The registered letter had not yet arrived this Friday morning.
But Jamila Hedjal was already enjoying this letter notifying the latest twist in “her battle” for “the truth”.
This mother from Maisons-Alfort filed a complaint for the death of her son, who died at the age of 13 following appendicitis, on the operating table at the Créteil intercommunal hospital center (CHIC) on November 24, 2018. Fares' family believes that there was a fault in the care of their child on the part of the head of the pediatric surgery department.
The case, heard at the Créteil court, had been transferred in recent months to the Paris Court of Appeal to rule on the order of the Créteil judge which placed the surgeon under the status of assisted witness.
A decision for which the Créteil public prosecutor's office had appealed.
On July 6, the latter requested the indictment of the CHIC doctor on the charge of “involuntary homicide.”
Then, on September 15, he signed "a supplementary indictment for the purposes of new investigative measures
(in terms of expertise, hearings and additional verifications)
and extension of the referral to the investigating judge, in particular to acts of failure to assist a person in danger (against X)”.
“Serious or consistent clues” to pursue him
In its judgment of March 18, the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Créteil judge.
She considers “that there was serious or consistent evidence allowing him to be indicted for involuntary manslaughter,” she said this Friday.
It is therefore up to the Créteil investigating judge to decide whether or not to proceed with his indictment.
“We are relieved,” reacts Jamila Hedjal.
Finally, we were heard.
This won't give us back our son.
But we are moving forward.
Even if we know very well that an indictment (
if it is pronounced Editor's note
) does not mean that he will be convicted.
»And to hope that by publicizing his case “it gives courage to other families”.
Also read Medical error: the endless ordeal of Véronique, left seriously disabled by a surgeon
The Paris Court of Appeal announced that “an appeal has been filed”.
Asked by Le Parisien, the surgeon's defender, Me Monin de Flaugergues, did not wish to comment on the matter.
For its part, the Créteil hospital has “to date no new information concerning the continuation of the legal proceedings”.
Consequently, the situation of the surgeon, who has been practicing for a long time within the establishment “has not changed”.
He remains “responsible for the outpatient surgery unit, whose operation and reception he coordinates”.