Martine Wonner, a psychiatrist and former deputy for Bas-Rhin, was suspended this Friday for one year by the disciplinary chamber of the Council of the Order of Physicians of the Grand Est, in Nancy, after two complaints about her controversial comments about masks and vaccines. during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This decision is totally outrageous. I am extremely and deeply concerned about freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in our country,” she reacted, indicating her intention to appeal.
“I knew it would be a political decision. Did ordinal justice have legitimacy to summon me? The whole question is there. In any case, it gives me all the necessary energy to continue fighting on the political level, ”she added.
Two complaints filed by “No FakeMed”
The former deputy, elected under the LREM banner in 2017 before being excluded from the parliamentary group in 2020, had been summoned in early November by the body after two complaints filed in 2021 by the “No FakeMed” association -which aims to ” the promotion of medicine based on scientific evidence”- and by the National Council of the Order of Physicians (Cnom).
“It’s a good decision,” reacted Dr. Jean-Christophe Breton, a member of the No FakeMed collective. “This is the second elected sanctioned by the disciplinary chamber, this confirms that a statement outside Parliament compromises ethical responsibility. But there is an appeal, so we will have to wait for the new decision.”
On appeal, it is up to the national disciplinary chamber to decide. It is presided over by a professional magistrate, State Counselor, and made up of advisers, doctors chosen within the order.
Debates around parliamentary immunity
During the hearing, the plaintiffs alleged that Martine Wonner had promoted “erroneous information” and had disseminated “care protocols” against Covid “without scientific basis”, in particular ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, on her Twitter account where she introduces herself as a psychiatrist.
They argued that parliamentary immunity does not apply to comments made by the former deputy outside the Chamber because she “used her status as a doctor to express her opinions”, especially when she went to rallies denouncing the use of the mask, or that she argued that PCR tests gave false results.
The defense, on the contrary, had argued that Martine Wonner expressed herself well as a parliamentarian and not as a doctor because, although she was still enrolled in the departmental council of the Bas-Rhin order of doctors, she had no longer exercised her medical duties. her activity since her election in 2017.
On November 4, the disciplinary chamber of the Burgundy Franche-Comté order of doctors had pronounced a ban on practicing medicine for 9 months against the radiologist Alain Houpert, senator LR of Côte-d’Or, for “ethical misconduct” .
Source: BFM TV
