The current government spokesperson Olivier Véran was placed in June under the status of witness assisted in judicial information at the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) on the management of the Covid-19 epidemic by the authorities, we learned this Friday from sources close to the matter. Olivier Véran, who was Minister of Health from February 2020 to May 2022, was placed under assisted witness status for voluntary abstention from fighting a disaster, said one of the sources close to the matter. This status, less incriminating, gives access to the file but avoids the risk of being sent to trial.
Olivier Véran was heard three times, notably in July and November, said another source close to the matter. Olivier Véran’s office has not commented. On November 14, Olivier Véran had alluded to this placement under assisted witness status on the Mediapart set, evoking “discussions which I report very naturally and very pleasantly before the CJR, that poses no difficulty for me”.
Buzy, Philippe… already concerned
The judicial investigation into the government’s management of the pandemic has been open since July 2020, for endangering the lives of others and voluntarily abstaining from fighting a disaster. The investigations were launched on July 7, 2020 after several complaints denouncing, from the start of confinement in France, the lack of protective equipment for caregivers and the population or even errors on the necessity or not of wearing masks. In this context, searches were carried out in October 2020, in particular at the homes and offices of Edouard Philippe, Agnès Buzyn, Olivier Véran, his successor at the Ministry of Health, and the former member of the government Sibeth Ndiaye.
Then Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Health between May 2017 and February 2020, was indicted in September 2021 for endangering the lives of others. She contested this indictment and obtained its annulment before the Court of Cassation. She is now placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness for endangering the lives of others as well as voluntary abstention from fighting a disaster. Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has been an assisted witness since October 2022 for endangering the lives of others and voluntarily abstaining from fighting a disaster.