“The two assassins are going to come out”, plague a victim. “Yes, but hey, when? We have to put it on the Internet”, his neighbor impatiently says, the phone screwed in his hand. “You’ve been waiting for this moment for ten years. You can still wait two minutes, right? », Launches a third. For an hour and a half, a crowd has been waiting feverishly in front of a small back door of the Marseille criminal court. Earlier, the president of the court gave the judgment which she herself described as severe. Eight years in prison, with a warrant for Lionel Guedj, and five years in prison for his father, Jean-Claude Guedj, also with a warrant. Both were accused of having mutilated 350 patients, mainly from the northern districts, while enriching themselves in passing on Social Security and mutual insurance companies.
Suddenly, the two Marseille dentists come out, escorted by the police, to take the direction of the Draguignan prison, under the boos and insults of the crowd. A hundred civil parties made the trip this Thursday afternoon to hear the judgment, after more than ten years of waiting and a trial marked by tension, resentment and the pain of the victims, whether physical or psychological. .
“I turn the Guedj page, sighs Noël, victim of Lionel Guedj. He played with us, with our lives. And he lost. He gets what he deserves. When the decision was announced, I felt relief. It’s like a weight is gone after all these years. And that he goes to prison, frankly, I didn’t believe it. The tainted blood, all those trials, no one went to jail. »
“I will sleep better now”
“Me, I’m going to sleep better now, hopes Kamel. I feel like I had a lump in my stomach and justice took it away from me. ” “I’m not going to sleep because I don’t know the amount of compensation, retorts Mehdi. I spent 26,000 euros on care because of him “When the decision was announced, the prosecution invited the civil parties to wait a few days before knowing their fate at each civil level, at the risk of an endless audience. “And then, it’s not over, yet, since he decided to appeal, sighs Zakia. It’s the never-ending story. »
Lionel Guedj’s lawyer, Me Frédéric Monneret, indeed announced this decision at the end of the court. “This sentence seems disproportionate to me, believes the lawyer. If there had only been four years firm, I would not have appealed. My client is undeniably devastated. However, the lawyer made it known that he was not appealing on civil interests, paving the way for long-awaited compensation on the bench of civil parties, often of modest origin, and essential to their reconstructions.