The Nantes prosecutor's office indicated that it had first opened an investigation for "acts of intimidation".
The Nantes infectious disease specialist, who in March made malicious calls to Professor Didier Raoult against the backdrop of a debate on hydroxychloroquine, accepted a fine of 300 euros during a criminal composition, we learned Wednesday from his lawyer.
This is a procedure that allows the prosecutor to propose one or more sanctions to a person who has committed certain low-gravity offenses.
“In the penal aspect we accepted the proposal of a fine of 300 euros.
In the compensation component, we have proposed 500 euros in damages out of the 100,000 requested by Mr. Raoult, ”said Franck Boezec, lawyer for François Raffi, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department of the Nantes University Hospital.
"No threats"
The proposal on the civilian component is being studied by the public prosecutor, he said.
His client made "malicious phone calls," which "were not threats let alone death threats," he said.
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Last March, Professor Raoult had received an anonymous call during which the author allegedly made death threats against him.
Le Canard enchaîné revealed shortly after that "the cell phone at the origin of the malicious calls was among those made available to the doctors of the infectious disease department of the Nantes University Hospital".
The track is thus ascended to François Raffi.
According to his lawyer, the Nantes doctor wrote a letter of apology on March 31, 2020 to the Marseille professor, whose recommendations for a chloroquine-based treatment of Covid-19 patients caused controversy.
The infectious disease specialist had also admitted to his lawyer that his reaction was "inappropriate", revealed in early January Ouest-France.
The latter ensuring that the latter was explained by "the major public health issue" related to hydroxychloroquine, acclaimed by Didier Raoult, as well as the "lack of moderation" of his colleague.
"My client was outraged and angry at a communication that did not respect scientific rigor", proclaimed Me Franck Boezec.
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The lawyer for Professor Didier Raoult was not immediately reachable.