COVID-19: SEARCHES AT THE HOME AND OFFICE OF THE MINISTER OF HEALTH OLIVIER VERAN

Long planned, searches were carried out this Thursday morning at the homes and offices of Minister of Health Olivier Véran. The homes and offices of several political figures were searched on Thursday, October 15. This vast, unprecedented and spectacular search operation also concerns former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, the former government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye, as well as the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon. Other searches were carried out at the director general of Public Health France, Geneviève Chêne.

Searches ordered by the Court of Justice of the Republic

The searches are part of a judicial investigation opened by the Court of Justice of the Republic on the management of the coronavirus crisis, the Ministry of Health announced in a press release. At the origin of these searches is the Court of Justice of the Republic, whose investigating committee acts as an investigating judge and leads the investigations. A judicial investigation was indeed opened on July 7 for “abstaining from fighting a disaster”. It is based on article 223-7 of the Penal Code: “Anyone who voluntarily refrains from taking or initiating measures allowing, without risk for himself or for third parties, to fight a disaster likely to create a danger for security of persons is punished by two years ofimprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros. "

"Abstention from fighting a disaster"

At first, there were complaints from relatives of Covid-19 victims or doctors. Nearly 90 complaints were lodged between March and June with the Court of Justice, the only body empowered to prosecute ministers.

Nine of these complaints gave rise to the opening of a judicial investigation in early July, with a central question: what did the ministers know when making their decisions, in particular on the effectiveness of the masks? Have they deliberately refrained from taking protective measures? Gendarmes and police immediately set to work to answer these questions.

Guest on BFMTV, Maître Arié Allimi, lawyer for the Inter-Urgences collective who had filed a complaint at the end of June with the Paris prosecutor's office with the constitution of civil party, develops the situation. The collective had already filed a complaint last March in the company of another, the C19 collective, for "abstaining from fighting a disaster", but wants justice to speed up its investigations.

“The reason for this complaint is to say that the government did not allow caregivers to protect themselves from a disease that it knew was coming and from which it knew the means to protect itself. This is the object of this complaint, there are administrative, political, but also criminal responsibilities, and the justice system is investigating to determine who is responsible, ”he explains.

"Caregivers have been contaminated"

The lawyer wished to recall the situation in which caregivers in France found themselves in the spring, when the health crisis was at its height on French territory.

“There are a number of caregivers who have been infected, some have had very serious after-effects, and others have died as a result of the Covid contamination. You also know that a large number of caregivers did not have the necessary equipment to protect themselves when they were in contact with infected people, in particular masks, gowns, etc. "

Three doctors, members of the C19 collective and supported by more than 600 members of the health staff, also lodged a complaint against the Minister of Health, by seizing the Court of Justice of the Republic. Their lawyer, Fabrice Di Vizio, estimated that "the government has not presented so far proof of orders or contracts for the necessary equipment" of protection, such as masks. These three doctors also filed a complaint against Agnès Buzyn and Edouard Philippe. Fabrice Di Vizio accuses them of having "refrained" from taking measures in time to stem the Covid-19 epidemic.

Computer equipment seized

It was the gendarmes of the Central Office for the fight against environmental and public health attacks and the Central Office for the fight against corruption and financial and fiscal offenses who carried out these searches.

The investigators were accompanied by computer specialists. It was a question of seizing and putting under seal computer equipment, learned France Televisions from sources close to the investigation. The members of the investigative committee of the CJR are looking for possible evidence (non-public reports, professional emails ...) showing the degree of knowledge the government had, for example alerts that it would not have taken into account. Masks are the most emblematic case.

Searches that raise questions

The investigation "is not there to define political or administrative responsibilities", had explained at the time the prosecutor Rémy Heitz, "but to bring to light possible criminal offenses" of national decision-makers (except the head of the State, not criminally responsible, and members of the government).

Several personalities reacted concerning the date chosen for these searches. These come to scramble government communication the day after President Emmanuel Macron's intervention, and the shocking announcement of nocturnal curfews in Île-de-France and in eight metropolises.

"It's not the emergency today, we have to fight against the second wave and I'm not convinced that we should waste time with that", reacted on BFMTV the president of the UDI, Jean- Christophe Lagarde, who does not believe "in the criminal responsibility of ministers in this affair". The deputy of rebellious France Eric Coquerel was also skeptical. “I do not find these searches to be opportune, there is a judicialization of political life. It's more a staging than anything else, ”he lamented on LCI.

A political drift of the French judiciary ?