In a calm and composed voice, Anne Gourvès, mother of Amie, 12, killed on July 14, 2016, made the voice of the anger of parents heard heard during the trial of the Nice attack. “My daughter was murdered twice. Once by a madman, the second time by forensic medicine, ”she said Thursday about the issue of autopsies and organ removals, especially from children, without parents being informed.
This taboo subject weighs on the debates. And the hearing, at the start of the trial, of the former boss of the Forensic Institute (IML) of Nice is far from having provided all the answers. Anne Gourvès, a 48-year-old teacher from Nice, does not hesitate to dot the I’s. For two hours, without ever losing her calm but with fierce determination, she demanded accountability from the judicial institution.
To respect “legal protocol”
“I hear from your testimony a great suffering to which I obviously cannot respond and I hear a lot of anger too. On what condition could you find an appeasement to this anger? “Questioned President Laurent Raviot. “Give me back my daughter’s organs with formal proof that they are indeed [les siens] and that they may be buried in the vault […] who waits like a cradle for Amie to finally rest in peace, ”replies the forties.
His request for additional expertise using DNA testing was refused by the judge who investigated the case of the attack. During his hearing, the former parton of the IML of Nice, Gérald Quatrehomme, had taken shelter behind “legal protocol” to justify the samples. The organs are always placed under seal.
Hit by the ram truck, Amie looked just scratched when her mother found her lying on the road, her face and limbs intact. The girl, whose father, Thierry Vimal, had also published a shocking book three years after the attack, died shortly after being taken to the emergency room. “Chest percussion by a high kinetic energy vehicle” is the cause of death, the hospital will state.
“My 12-year-old daughter was cut into pieces”
So why perform an autopsy? “If I hadn’t struggled, I would never have known,” says Anne Gourvès. When she can finally see the body of her child, five days after the attack, she discovers scared scars on her daughter’s head, thighs, arms or even her thorax which did not exist when she was admitted to the hospital.
Heart, thymus, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, liver, uterus, ovaries, brain, dura mater, adrenals, cervical block or digestive tract were removed. “My 12-year-old daughter was cut into pieces,” her mother says again. Why ? I need people to respect me by telling me the truth, not to protect me. It was my daughter who needed protection. I denounce procedures that hide barbaric acts unworthy of our time. The integrity of our deceased has not been respected. »