The investigating magistrate “indicted the charge of failure to assist a person in danger (…) the Samu operator who had received the two calls” from Naomi Musenga, aged 22, specified the prosecutor of the Republic of Strasbourg, Yolande Renzi. She was indicted “during her hearing by the judge on February 14, 2023”, the lawyer for Naomi’s family, Me Jean-Christophe Coubris, told AFP.
The prosecution also requested “the referral of this person to the criminal court (…) in December”, added Ms Renzi. “If the investigating magistrate follows the requisitions, the court will be seized of this file as soon as possible.”
An audience awaited for six years
This indictment and these requisitions come after years of investigation, a length which has often despaired those close to the young woman. “Naomi’s family has been waiting for more than six years for a hearing,” continued Me Coubris. “This indictment was a source of relief, with the feeling that justice is working efficiently, even if it does so at its own pace which is sometimes poorly appreciated or misunderstood by families.”
Mother of an 18-month-old child, Naomi Musenga died on December 29, 2017 at Strasbourg hospital after being treated with “an overall delay of almost 2 hours 20 minutes”, according to a report from the General Inspectorate of social affairs (Igas).
“Paracetamol poisoning”
Her distress call sparked a huge wave of indignation after the exchanges with the operator were broadcast in the media and on social networks. “My stomach hurts a lot”, “I hurt everywhere”, “I’m going to die…”, Naomi whispered, struggling to express herself. “Yes, you will die, certainly one day like everyone else,” the regulator retorted, mockingly. Suspended, she no longer works at the CHU, according to Me Coubris.
An initial expert opinion, fought forcefully by the young woman’s family, concluded that she had died as a result of “paracetamol poisoning absorbed by self-medication over several days”. But a second expert opinion refuted the conclusions of the first, citing a digestive vascular accident which led to hemorrhage.