As in October 2019, it was at dawn on Tuesday morning that this handful of elderly people were woken up by a ringing of the gendarmes.
All members of the pro-euthanasia association Ultime Liberté and activists for the legalization of assisted suicide, they are ten to have been placed in police custody during the day, in several cities of France, as recounted by our colleagues from Europe 1 .
Justice suspects them of having a link, near or far, with pentobarbital, a barbiturate which, used in high doses, can prove to be lethal.
This product, marketed under the name of Nembutal and which comes in the form of small transparent vials, sold for nearly 600 euros on the Internet, has been banned in France since 1996, except for veterinary use.
However, in the summer of 2019, the dismantling of a shipping platform in the United States made it possible to draw up a list of dozens of packages containing this product and destined for France.
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It has been more than a year and a half that investigators from Oclaesp (Central Office for the Fight against Environmental and Public Health Attacks) have been trying to find the trace of the recipients of these vials ordered on the Internet, as well as 'to find out how they got hold of them.
On October 15, 2019, around a hundred people, the vast majority of them retirees, had been targeted by a large-scale search operation throughout the territory.
In all, 134 vials were seized from individuals.
"The idea was to save lives, because behind each bottle, there is a potential death", commented at the time a source close to the file, near the Parisian.
Physiotherapist, former teachers ...
Since then, the investigations have continued.
In June 2020, the public health center of the Paris prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation for facts of "importation, possession, acquisition, in particular on a telecommunications network, and illicit use of substances classified as psychotropic", as well as for " importation of dangerous goods for public health, illegal exercise of the profession of pharmacist and propaganda or complicity in propaganda in favor of products allowing suicide ”.
In the viewfinder of justice, this time no longer the recipients of these vials, but activists of the association Ultime Liberté suspected of having been able to give them an email address allowing them to order these vials.
Among the ten retirees, aged 60 to at least 81, who received a visit from the gendarmes on Tuesday, some were released the same day, but others were, according to our information, still auditioned this Wednesday at the end of the day. .
In particular Claude Hury, the president of the association, a former teacher of 70 years, but also its vice-president, Patrice Bernardo, physiotherapist of 75 years, as well as the general secretary of Ultime Liberté, Armand Stroh, 71 years old, former professor, just like the former professor of philosophy François Galichet, 77 years old and author of a book in favor of the legalization of euthanasia, who was also searched in the wake.
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When we interviewed her in November 2019, Claude Hury was defending himself from any illegal action within his collective.
“We never encouraged anyone to buy, we never ordered for others.
We do not make any lethal gesture, ”she retorted.
The president of Ultime Liberté, who advocates the legalization of suicide for all those who would consider it, which makes it the most militant of the pro-euthanasia associations in France, however assumed the fact of providing advice to those who would like to get some Nembutal.
“We don't need to be sick to be willing to die, some want to have control over their lives to the end,” the septuagenarian justified.
“I was taken on like a thief!
"
The day after his placement in life custody, Michel Denis, released around 8 p.m., also continues to insist that his role for five years within the association Ultime Liberté is not unlawful.
“We do not trade or trade, we are not delinquents.
There are people who ask us and need to get a product, so we give them the procedure to follow, afterwards, it belongs to them and they manage ”, reacts this former specialist educator of 70 years with the Parisian, some hours after answering many questions from investigators.
He had already been searched in October 2019 and the gendarmes had found a vial of Nembutal at his home.
The latter also went to Bernard G., a former 81-year-old math teacher, also was interviewed by the gendarmes on Tuesday, but, for his part, as a witness.
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VIDEO. Searched for buying drugs on the web to kill herself
“I was taken on like a thief!
», Is offended this man in whom no vial could be found, because he assures to have entrusted it to a relative before having it destroyed because of the exceeding of its deadline.
"The gendarmes had a host of written questions, most of which dealt with Ultime Liberté, to which I am a member," continues Bernard G., who speaks of a "political association" which "goes to the coal".
He claims that he will not hesitate to recommend the product, even if he has to face the questions of the police again.
"I'd rather die like that than with pipes all over the corner of the hospital ..." These two men are now waiting to know if they will be the subject of legal proceedings.
Michel Denis does not hide it, he "would prefer a trial, so that it is more resounding than a classification of the investigation".
"It would be a good way to advance our fight and especially to put forward the idea of freedom of choice", projects this activist from the start.