Martine Wonner, psychiatrist and former deputy for Bas-Rhin, was suspended for one year on Friday by the disciplinary chamber of the Council of the Order of Physicians of the Grand Est, in Nancy, after two complaints concerning her controversial remarks on masks and vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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“
This decision is totally outrageous.
I am extremely and deeply worried about freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in our country
, ”she reacted to AFP, expressing her intention to appeal.
“
I knew it would be a political decision.
Did the ordinal justice have legitimacy to summon me?
The whole question is there.
In any case, it gives me all the energy I need to continue to fight politically
,” she added.
Read alsoEx-MP Martine Wonner, figure of covid-skeptics, summoned before the College of Physicians
The former MP, elected under the LREM banner in 2017 before being excluded from the parliamentary group in 2020, had been summoned in early November by the body after two complaints filed in 2021 by the association "
No FakeMed
" - which has for purpose "
the promotion of medicine based on scientific evidence
" - and by the National Council of the Order of Physicians (Cnom).
"
It's a good decision
," reacted to AFP Dr. Jean-Christophe Breton, member of the collective No FakeMed.
“
This is the second elected sanctioned by the disciplinary chamber, this confirms that a declaration outside Parliament engages ethical responsibility.
But there is an appeal, so we will have to wait for the new decision
.
On appeal, it is up to the national disciplinary chamber to rule.
It is chaired by a professional magistrate, State Councillor, and composed of assessors, physicians elected within the order.
Read alsoMartine Wonner, the macronist “casting error”
During the hearing, the plaintiffs had claimed that Ms Wonner had promoted “
misinformation
” and had disseminated “
care protocols
” against Covid “
without scientific basis
”, in particular ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, on her Twitter account where she introduces herself as a psychiatrist.
They argued that parliamentary immunity did not apply to comments made by the former MP outside the Chamber because she "
used her status as a doctor to express her opinions
", especially when she went to rallies denouncing the wearing of the mask, or that she argued that the PCR tests gave false results.
The defense had, on the contrary, maintained that Martine Wonner expressed herself well as a member of parliament and not as a doctor because, although still registered with the departmental council of the Bas-Rhin order of physicians, she had no longer exercised her medical activity since her election in 2017. On November 4, the disciplinary chamber of the order of doctors of Burgundy Franche-Comté had pronounced a ban on the practice of medicine for 9 months against the radiologist Alain Houpert, senator LR of Côte-d'Or , for “
ethical faults
”.
