Former French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn has been charged with conspiracy to tackle the COVID-19 case after investigators in a Paris high court found there were reasons to prosecute her.
Buzyn is accused of “threatening the lives of others”, a lawyer from the Republican Court of Justice said on Friday, but not a second case of failure to “cause disaster”.
A former doctor, who could have filed a lawsuit, came to the court to hear that he had received “a very good opportunity to clarify and establish the truth”.
The 58-year-old added that he “would not allow the government’s actions to be insulted, or my actions as a minister, while we did a lot to prepare our country for the ever-increasing disease”.
This growth is one of the first in the world when a public servant is accused of dealing with a medical crisis.
The lawsuit is currently pending against President Emmanuel Macron, who is in charge of health care, which will be scrutinized during next year’s general election, but the court also ruled in favor of the judiciary.
Anne Genetet, a member of the LREM ruling party, said she was “shocked” and “angry” at the court’s ruling, which has special powers against ministers.
“We should not be surprised if no one wants to get involved in politics, or become a minister,” Genetet told LCI radio.
Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and health minister Olivier Veran are being re-examined by judges in court and have seen their offices investigated.
Mocking
Buzyn, who resigned in February last year, weeks after the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in France, has been criticized and mocked for his earlier comments on the issue.
He also said in early January 2020 that there was “no risk” of importing COVID-19 from the Chinese city in the early stages of the outbreak, Wuhan later said, “the risk of transmitting coronavirus among humans is very low”.
One month later, after leaving office to run for mayor of Paris, he said the “tsunami is still coming”, which contradicts what he had previously said.
The cancer specialist and his subsequent appointment told a parliamentary inquiry that he had warned President and then Prime Minister Philippe of the “dangers” of COVID-19 in early January.
These are just some of the research efforts into the government’s response to the coronavirus and Buzyn’s successor, Veran, is expected to be summoned by the same judges in the coming weeks.
Controversy
The Supreme Court of the Republic was created in 1993 as a precautionary measure in response to allegations that cabinet members had escaped punishment in their cases.
Citizens are allowed to file a complaint in court if they feel that they have been abused by a member of the public.
About 14,500 complaints – from individuals, doctors, organizations and even inmates – are piled on the government’s response to the epidemic, the chief justice said this week.
Some critics argue that the court is slow and gentle, while others see the current investigation as an example of extravagant prosecution.
Jean Garrigues, a French political historian who often supports the government, said Buzyn’s appearance in court was “a great war”.
“It is up to the voters and not the judges to accept the politician for their speech and actions,” he wrote on Twitter.
The court has been at loggerheads, with former presidents Francois Hollande and Macron promising to step down.
Buzyn left politics and in January joined the Prime Minister of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.