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Former French Minister of Health Agnes Buzyn was charged with handling the COVID-19 crisis after investigators in a special court in Paris concluded that there was a reason to prosecute her.
The prosecutor of the Republic Court said on Friday that Buzyn has been accused of “endangering the lives of others”, but not for the second possible crime of “failure to prevent the disaster.”
The former doctor can appeal the allegations, and she came to the court to attend the hearing, saying that she welcomes “a great opportunity for me to explain myself and determine the truth.”
The 58-year-old added that she will not “let the government’s actions or my actions as a minister lose credibility, because we have made a lot of preparations for the country to deal with the ongoing global health crisis.”
This development marked one of the first cases in the world where key public officials were held accountable for handling medical crises.
These allegations are a blow to President Emmanuel Macron. His handling of the health crisis will face scrutiny during next year’s election campaign, but the court also immediately faced allegations of judicial ultra vires.
The ruling LREM party member Anne Genetet said she was “shocked” and “angry” at the precedent set by the court, which has special powers to sue the minister.
“If no one wants to go into politics or become a minister again, we shouldn’t be surprised,” Genette told the LCI channel.
Former Prime Minister Edward Philip and current Minister of Health Olivier Wieland were also under investigation by the magistrate at the court and saw their offices searched.
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A few weeks after France confirmed the first COVID-19 case, Buzin resigned in February last year, and her initial statement of the crisis was criticized and ridiculed.
She initially stated in January 2020 that the importation of COVID-19 from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated, was “almost no risk”, and then said that “the risk of the spread of the coronavirus in the population is very small”.
A month later, when she left the ministry to run for the mayor of Paris and failed, she claimed that “the tsunami had not yet arrived”, which was clearly in contradiction with her previous statement.
The cancer and transplant expert later told the parliamentary investigation that she had warned the President and then Prime Minister Philip of the potential “danger” of COVID-19 as early as January.
This is part of a broader investigation into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is widely expected that Buzan’s successor, Wilan, will be summoned by the same judge in the coming weeks.
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The Republican Court was established in 1993 to improve the accountability system because it is believed that the actions of cabinet members during their tenure can escape legal sanctions.
If the public believes that they are victims of criminal acts committed by government members, they can file a complaint with the court.
Its top prosecutor said this week that about 14,500 complaints — from individuals, doctors, associations and even prisoners — have piled up.
Some critics accuse the court of being too slow and tolerant, while others view the current investigation as an example of the judicial system going too far.
Jean Garrigues, a French political historian who often supports the government, called Buzan’s appearance in court “a serious blow to the separation of powers.”
He wrote on Twitter: “Voters, not judges, should sanction politicians for their words and deeds.”
Competition in the court is getting fiercer, and both former President François Hollande and current Macron have pledged to abolish it.
Buzan retired from politics and joined the cabinet of World Health Organization Director-General Ghebreyesus in January.
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