The 17 years of investigation of the mad cow case may end in a dismissal. For Judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy, public health scandals need a European criminal court.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a general dismissal in the mad cow case. According to information revealed by Le Parisien on Monday, “no objective and irrefutable link could be established between the elements in question and the deaths”. As for the families of the victims, it is obvious the cold shower. If the judges followed the prosecution’s requisitions, “it would be a disappointment for the families but it would also be depriving themselves of useful information on drifts in the food markets”, told AFP Me Bernard Fau one lawyers for civil parties. “All that for that … It’s discouraging,” said Alain Bazot, president of UFC-Que Choisir, who points to “a culpable and unacceptable slowness of justice”. Why actor asked the judge Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy, a specialist in public health issues who has investigated scandals such as that of contaminated blood, but also that of the mad cow.
Why Doctor: The prosecution requested a dismissal in the mad cow case. You have been investigating this file for several years. Are you disappointed that we have come to this?
Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy : It is not a scandal not to have resulted in a trial. In fact, I am not at all surprised that we are moving towards a dismissal because it is so difficult to establish a causal link between such and such a victim of BSE and the consumption of a particular meat. . In criminal law, you have to find a definite causal link between the death of a person and such and such a steak, so to speak. We must find the contaminating cattle but also make the link with the negligence committed in the management of the herd or among decision-makers …
For the victims, is it not a big mess after all?
Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy: This investigation, which lasted 17 years, nevertheless gave answers to the victims and they were compensated, which was not easy. It is already good to have made progress in determining the negligence committed. The investigation provided them with an important answer: the link between the fact of having eaten beef and this disease is recognized. But where, how and when, impossible to say … In civil, the lawyers managed to obtain compensation. In the criminal justice system, it is more difficult to get answers to his questions. Besides, some lawyers do not even come to criminal proceedings. These 17 years of instruction were therefore not wasted. What is unfortunate is that we are moving towards an insurance company – we reimburse people, we compensate them – but not towards a liability company.
Is this case not the perfect illustration of the planned failure of public health affairs in court?
Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy : Yes, absolutely. The whistleblowers were not heard, the lobbies were very powerful and the experts not always independent. This case illustrates the lack of means and the rigidity of the penal code in this kind of case. This is why I am campaigning for the creation of a European criminal court for the environment and health. Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France are involved in the mad cow issue. There are no borders for contamination. And each procedure has its complicity. A European financial prosecutor will undoubtedly be created. For health, this would be a considerable step forward for prevention because prevention comes out of the sanction. The victims want above all to know how we were able to arrive at French contaminations. And especially that it does not start again. For that, we need independence, resources… at European level.
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