Latest news with #Buzyn
Local France
07-07-2025
- Health
- Local France
French court dismisses government Covid response probe
The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) closed the probe five years after it began in July 2020 over complaints that the government mismanaged its reaction to the virus's spread, including a lack of protective gear and unclear guidance over mask wearing. Then prime minister Philippe, ex-health minister Agnès Buzyn and her successor Olivier Véran were named as assisted witnesses - a status in the French legal system that falls between that of a witness and a formal suspect. "The investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic has decided to dismiss the case," prosecutor general Remy Heitz said on Monday, without offering details. Advertisement The public prosecutor in May requested the case be dismissed -- a move that effectively ruled out a trial. The CJR is the only court authorised to prosecute and try former and current government members for alleged crimes and offences committed in exercising their official duties. Its investigation found the government had taken several measures to combat the pandemic, Heitz said in May. The prosecutor's request - seen by AFP - argued that while the measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 were insufficient, neither Philippe nor Véran deliberately refused to respond to the disaster. "Each, at their own level, fought the epidemic from the moment it emerged in France," the request said. Buzyn had been sharply criticised for leaving her post at the start of the health crisis to run for mayor of Paris. But she actually left on February 16th, 2020 - a few days before an official disaster was declared in France with the first death of a Covid-19 patient recorded on February 25th, the prosecutor general's office added. Buzyn had also been under investigation for endangering the lives of others, but France's Court of Cassation dropped that charge in January 2023. Philippe, a popular premier from 2017 to July 2020, is now mayor of the northern city of Le Havre and leads a right-centre party allied with, but not part of, Macron's centrist faction. Advertisement He is the only leading contender to firmly have declared his intention to stand in the 2027 presidential election. READ ALSO : ANALYSIS: Who's who in France's 2027 presidential election race✎ According to France's public health agency, around 168,000 people died from Covid-19 between February 2020 and September 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency over.
eNCA
07-07-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
French court dismisses government Covid response probe
A French court on Monday dropped a case investigating the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by three former government officials, including former prime minister and 2027 presidential hopeful Edouard Philippe. The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) closed the probe five years after it began in July 2020 over complaints that the government mismanaged its reaction to the virus's spread, including a lack of protective gear and unclear guidance over mask wearing. Then premier Philippe, ex-health minister Agnes Buzyn and her successor Olivier Veran were named as assisted witnesses -- a status in the French legal system that falls between that of a witness and a formal suspect. "The investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic has decided to dismiss the case," prosecutor general Remy Heitz said on Monday, without offering details. The public prosecutor in May requested the case be dismissed -- a move that effectively ruled out a trial. The CJR is the only court authorised to prosecute and try former and current government members for alleged crimes and offences committed in exercising their official duties. Its investigation found the government had taken several measures to combat the pandemic, Heitz said in May. The prosecutor's request -- seen by AFP -- argued that while the measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 were insufficient, neither Philippe nor Veran deliberately refused to respond to the disaster. "Each, at their own level, fought the epidemic from the moment it emerged in France," the request said. Buzyn had been sharply criticised for leaving her post at the start of the health crisis to run for mayor of Paris. But she actually left on February 16, 2020 -- a few days before an official disaster was declared in France with the first death of a Covid-19 patient recorded on February 25, the prosecutor general's office added. Buzyn had also been under investigation for endangering the lives of others, but France's Court of Cassation dropped that charge in January 2023. Philippe, a popular premier from 2017 to July 2020, is now mayor of the northern city of Le Havre and leads a right-centre party allied with, but not part of, Macron's centrist faction. He is the only leading contender to firmly have declared his intention to stand in the 2027 presidential election. According to France's public health agency, around 168,000 people died from Covid-19 between February 2020 and September 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency over.
Euronews
07-07-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Former French officials cleared of accusations of pandemic mishandling
Three former French government officials who oversaw the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic were cleared of allegations that they mishandled the health crisis, one of the accused said Monday. The decision comes five years after a top court in France opened an investigation into former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who stepped down in July 2020, as well as ex-health ministers Agnès Buzyn and Olivier Véran. They were accused of 'failing to fight disaster'. Véran confirmed the decision in a post on the social media platform X. 'After years of proceedings, investigations, summonses, and public indictments, justice has spoken,' he wrote. 'We committed neither fault nor intentional failure'. Véran replaced Buzyn as health minister in February 2020, when she resigned to run for mayor of Paris. The Court of Justice of the Republic, the only French court that can investigate government officials while they are still in office, opened the case in July 2020 after receiving dozens of complaints from doctors, patients, law enforcement, and others about their response to the pandemic. Chief among their complaints included shortages of masks and other equipment, as well as the decision to hold municipal elections on March 15, 2020, just a few days before French President Emmanuel Macron announced nationwide measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Buzyn had also been indicted for endangering the lives of others in September 2021, but France's Court of Cassation dropped the charge in January 2023. In his post on X, Véran said he had faced death threats and online misinformation during the probe into the 'hypothetical scandal'.
LeMonde
07-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
French court drops government Covid response investigation
A French court on Monday, July 7, dropped a case investigating the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by three former government officials, including former prime minister and 2027 presidential hopeful Edouard Philippe. The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) closed the probe five years after it began in July 2020 over complaints that the government mismanaged its reaction to the virus's spread, including a lack of protective gear and unclear guidance over mask wearing. Then premier Philippe, ex-health minister Agnes Buzyn and her successor Olivier Véran were named as assisted witnesses – a status in the French legal system that falls between that of a witness and a formal suspect. "The investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic has decided to dismiss the case," prosecutor general Rémy Heitz said on Monday, without offering details. The public prosecutor in May requested the case be dismissed – a move that effectively ruled out a trial. The CJR is the only court authorized to prosecute and try former and current government members for alleged crimes and offenses committed in exercising their official duties. Its investigation found the government had taken several measures to combat the pandemic, Heitz said in May. The prosecutor's request – seen by Agence France-Presse – argued that while the measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 were insufficient, neither Philippe nor Véran deliberately refused to respond to the disaster. "Each, at their own level, fought the epidemic from the moment it emerged in France," the request said. Buzyn had been sharply criticized for leaving her post at the start of the health crisis to run for mayor of Paris. But she actually left on February 16, 2020 – a few days before an official disaster was declared in France with the first death of a Covid-19 patient recorded on February 25, the prosecutor general's office added. Buzyn had also been under investigation for endangering the lives of others, but France's Court of Cassation dropped that charge in January 2023. Philippe, a popular premier from 2017 to July 2020, is now mayor of the northern city of Le Havre and leads a right-center party allied with, but not part of, Macron's centrist faction. He is the only leading contender to firmly have declared his intention to stand in the 2027 presidential election. According to France's public health agency, around 168,000 people died from Covid-19 between February 2020 and September 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency over.
