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Management of Covid-19: five minutes to understand Agnès Buzyn's hearing

2021-09-10T13:07:15.316Z


The former Minister of Health was summoned this Friday by the judges of the Court of Justice of the Republic, who could decide to


She entered the premises of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) this Friday morning, without knowing when she would leave - and, above all, under what legal status.

The former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, heard by three judges, is accused of not having acted enough at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, between January and March 2020. She completely defends herself and intends to take advantage of this hearing to "explain and re-establish the truth of the facts".

We take stock.

Where does this procedure come from?

Originally, it all started with a complaint from a group of health professionals represented by lawyer Fabrice di Vizio, known since the start of the pandemic for his denunciation of government policy. Or rather several complaints: nearly 15,000 have been received by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) since the start of the pandemic, and only nine of them have been deemed admissible by the CJR's complaints commission. . This is the only court that can investigate ministers for acts committed in the performance of their duties.

These nine complaints were grouped together in a single procedure and an investigation for "abstention from fighting a claim" targeting Agnès Buzyn, but also her successor Olivier Véran and former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, was opened in July 2020. C ' This convocation by the 58-year-old former minister, who did not attend a first convocation in July, is part of this, according to Le Monde.

What do we blame Agnès Buzyn for?

The former Minister of Health is criticized for not having acted enough at the start of the pandemic, at the end of December 2019 and in January 2020. At that time, “only” several hundred positive cases were recorded in China and then in certain countries Asian neighbors.

And on January 24, the former minister and professional doctor assured that "the risks of the spread of the coronavirus in the population [were] very low", before qualifying his remarks.

One of the main complaints against her is that she did not have stocks of masks and protective equipment large enough for caregivers.

VIDEO.

Summoned to the Court of Justice of the Republic, Agnès Buzyn wants to "restore the truth"

A small sentence reported by Le Monde on March 17, the day the first confinement entered into force, sowed doubt in the minds of investigators. At that time, Agnès Buzyn had left “her” ministry for a month in order to be a candidate for mayor of Paris, urgently replacing Benjamin Griveaux (caught in the turmoil of the affair of his intimate photos). “From the start I only thought of one thing: the coronavirus. We should have stopped everything, it was a masquerade. The past week has been a nightmare. I was afraid at each meeting, ”she said then, quoted by our colleagues.

The judges seek to understand this apparent discrepancy in less than two months.

“The remarks made by Agnès Buzyn in Le Monde on March 17 had the effect of a bomb and feed our complaint.

In essence, she explains that she knew everything and did nothing, ”Me Di Vizio was also carried away with the Parisian a few days later.

According to Le Monde, which revealed this hearing on Thursday, the former Minister of Health risks an indictment not only for "voluntary abstention from fighting a disaster" (punishable by 2 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. ) but also, henceforth, for “endangering the life of others”.

How does she defend herself?

"I will not let the government's action, my action as Minister, while we have done so much to prepare our country for a global health crisis which, I remind you, still lasts," said Agnès Buzyn. journalists this Friday morning, defending themselves from any breach.

Read also "They arrive by the thousands": 5 minutes to understand the rain of complaints related to Covid-19

In June 2020, during her hearing by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry about her management of the health crisis, she felt that she "felt the danger well before the others".

The former Minister of Health was also self-congratulating as to the "anticipation" of the epidemic in France, "without commensurate with other European countries".

She then opposed the "good preparation" of the French health system to the argument that she had "underestimated" the risk and the dangers.

Agnès Buzyn had also refused to take responsibility for the shortage of masks.

If the precise arguments deployed by the former minister this Friday did not filter, the probability is strong that she retained the same line of defense as during this hearing.

What can happen next?

Agnès Buzyn will be indicted if the magistrates of the CJR consider that there are serious and concordant clues, suggesting that she has committed offenses related to this poor anticipation of the risks that she is accused of. No longer elected, it can also be placed under judicial control. "In this case, for example, she could be prohibited from entering into contact with other people concerned by this affair", explains criminal lawyer Eric Morain, according to which however "this probability is less". Finally, there is the possibility that Agnès Buzyn will not be prosecuted today.

Among those affected by the case, Agnès Buzyn's successor, Olivier Véran, could in turn be heard by the CJR in the coming weeks. This is also the case for former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who had promised in 2020 that he would provide “all the necessary answers” ​​to his questioning. Like their former colleague in the government, they are targeted by the judicial investigation opened in July 2020 by the general prosecutor's office of the Court of Cassation.

A summons from Olivier Véran and Édouard Philippe to the CJR would move the matter "to a higher gear", comments Eric Morain. And for good reason: both still hold political positions, the first as Minister of Health and the second as mayor of Le Havre. Like Agnès Buzyn, they say they are ready to answer questions but defend themselves from any breach.

For the lawyer, the summons of Olivier Véran would be all the heavier as the minister worked in the most intense period of the health crisis, unlike Agnès Buzyn, who is accused of poor management at the very beginning of the the pandemic. “Olivier Véran took office as Minister of Health after a paradigm shift in the pandemic. Also, points out Eric Morain, his potential hearing would make the affair reach a more serious scale, which would collide with politics in the strict sense of the term ”.

Source: leparis

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