Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was placed on Tuesday, October 18, under the status of witness assisted by magistrates of the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) at the end of a hearing on the government’s management of the epidemic. of Covid-19, announced on Saturday October 22 a source close to the file at Agence France-Presse (AFP), confirming information from Franceinfo.
The mayor of Le Havre and president of Horizons, a party close to the presidential majority, was heard on Tuesday by the three magistrates of the CJR’s investigation commission on the offenses of endangering the lives of others and voluntary abstention to fight a disaster.
The former Prime Minister (May 2017-July 2020), who is contesting the offenses with which he is charged, visibly convinced the judges since he was placed under the status of assisted witness, intermediate between that of indicted and that of mere witness. It designates the status of the person implicated during a judicial investigation, but who is not directly accused of committing an offence.
Agnès Buzyn indicted in September 2021
In this judicial investigation opened in July 2020, the former Minister of Health (May 2017-February 2020) Agnès Buzyn was indicted for endangering the lives of others on September 10, 2021. She was also placed under the status of assisted witness for voluntary failure to fight a claim.
In addition to Ms. Buzyn and Mr. Philippe, the former Minister of Health Olivier Véran, now government spokesperson, is targeted by this instruction on the government’s management of the Covid-19 epidemic led by the CJR, sole authority to prosecute and judge members of the government for crimes or misdemeanors committed in the exercise of their functions. At this stage, Mr. Véran was not heard by the CJR.
The investigations had been launched after several complaints denouncing in particular the lack of protective equipment for caregivers and the population or the errors on the need or not to wear masks. Since then, other complaints have been added to the ongoing judicial investigation.
In this case, several searches were carried out in October 2020, in particular at the homes and offices of MM. Véran and Philippe, of Mrs. Buzyn and the former member of the government Sibeth Ndiaye. To date, according to figures from Public Health France, the Covid-19 epidemic has caused 155,000 deaths in France.