Covid-19 management: dismissal of charges against Edouard Philippe, Agnès Buzyn and Olivier Véran, after five years of investigations
By The New Obs with AFP
Olivier Véran (left), Edouard Philippe (right) and Agnès Buzyn (right). MONTAGE-LUDOVIC MARIN, JOEL SAGET/AFP
Five years after the start of investigations carried out at the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) into the management of Covid-19 , three former members of the government, including Edouard Philippe, benefited this Monday, July 7, afternoon from a dismissal of the case.
"The CJR's investigating commission has issued a decision of dismissal," announced Rémy Heitz, Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, in a brief press release, without detailing the magistrates' motives.
This decision is not a surprise. The dismissal of charges requested in May by the public prosecutor in favor of the former Prime Minister (May 2017-July 2020), the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn (May 2017-February 2020), and her successor Olivier Véran (February 2020-May 2022) removed the prospect of a trial, even if it was up to the CJR's investigating committee to decide.
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"It was expected," Agnès Buzyn simply responded when contacted by AFP. Olivier Véran, for his part, spoke in a statement of "a dismissal without joy or relief," saying that he "will not erase the death threats or the insults," and sending his thoughts to the victims, their families, and caregivers. Edouard Philippe has not yet responded, nor has his lawyer.
168,000 deaths from Covid-19 between 2020 and September 2023The CJR is the only court empowered to prosecute and try members of the government – Prime Ministers, Ministers and Secretaries of State – for crimes and offences committed in the exercise of their functions.
The judicial investigation was opened in July 2020 for endangering the lives of others and willful failure to combat a disaster, following a series of complaints (doctors, patients, unions, etc.) denouncing poor anticipation by the government or late measures.
According to Public Health France, 168,000 people died from Covid-19 between 2020 and September 2023, the date the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency.
The three politicians were not charged, but were placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness. In January 2023, the Court of Cassation overturned the September 2021 indictment of Agnès Buzyn for endangering the lives of others.
The judge is not authorized to judge the “relevance” of political choicesRémy Heitz, who serves as public prosecutor at the CJR, explained in May that the investigations covering the first half of 2020 had established that "numerous initiatives [had] been taken by the government to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, preventing the offence of willful abstention from combating a disaster from being established against" Edouard Philippe and Olivier Véran.
Concerning Agnès Buzyn, the public prosecutor noted that she left her post on February 16, 2020, before the first death of an infected patient, nine days later.
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