As shown in my previous article here, the supposed French ‘Pfizer Law’, which social media got so excited about last week, makes no mention whatsoever of mRNA vaccines and could certainly not be used, under any reasonable interpretation of the text, to criminalise criticism of them. But this is not to say that it has nothing to do with the COVID-19 response and the criminalisation of medical dissent. It has everything to do with the latter. But the actual target of the law is not vaccine criticism, but rather the touting of alternative therapies, as personified by Didier Raoult, the specialist in infectious diseases from Marseille who famously promoted the off-label use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.
The law is, if anything, an ‘anti-Raoult law’.
This was evident in the debates in the French National Assembly which preceded the vote on the legislation. Thus, Olivier Véran, who was the French Minister of Health from 2020 to 2022, during the official course of the COVID-19 pandemic, took the opportunity to launch into a tirade against Raoult, denouncing him as a “guru” and a “charlatan” and insisting that “the misuse of hydroxychloroquine has taken far more lives than it has saved”. Véran recently returned to the National Assembly as a deputy following a cabinet reshuffle.
Véran also did indeed make a link with vaccination. Alluding to Marseille’s central La Canebière boulevard, he asked, “How many sick people in France will refuse a protective vaccine because they are locked in their false beliefs by the ambiguous statements of the charlatan of La Canebière?” This recalls the original context in which the off-label use of drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin first became an issue, since if effective treatment for COVID-19 were available and acknowledged, after all, no emergency or ‘conditional’ authorisation of experimental vaccines against it would have been needed.
But note Veran’s reference to people who are already sick. This reflects the wording of the relevant section of the legislation, which, as discussed and reproduced in my previous article, refers to persons already “suffering from a medical condition” and hence has no relevance to vaccination of healthy people against potential disease.
But why would someone who is already sick need the protection of a vaccine? Véran’s formulation appears to allude to the most common current recommendations for the use of COVID-19 vaccines in Europe, i.e. strictly for ‘at-risk’ populations like the elderly or persons who are immunocompromised due precisely to an existing medical condition.
This is in fact the only conceivable circumstance under which, given the wording of the legislation, someone might indeed incur criminal liability by advising against, for instance, vaccination against COVID-19: namely, if the advice is given to someone who is already suffering from a different illness and for whom, according to “the current state of medical knowledge”, not being protected against COVID-19 could have serious consequences.
But since there are many who appear to be determined to somehow salvage the original false reports on the so-called ‘Pfizer law’, let it be noted that even in this circumstance there would be nothing to prevent a medical practitioner or anyone else from still advising against the use of a specifically mRNA vaccine. Non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, like Novavax and Valneva, are also now available in the EU.
Véran’s use of the term “guru” to refer to Raoult is particularly significant and by no means accidental. As likewise discussed in my previous article, the legislation in question is in fact devoted to “sectarian tendencies”, but its effect is precisely to extend the notion of a “sect” to non-religious contexts.
Thus, the law is commonly presented as an initiative of Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, a sub-ministerial member of the French Government, and Agresti-Roubache has coined the expression “gurus 2.0” to describe the phenomenon it is supposed to combat. “More and more small groups and ‘gurus 2.0’ are federating real communities of followers online,” she warned in her speech to the National Assembly the day before the vote.
Agresti-Roubache would again take the floor the next day, after Véran’s speech, but she would say nothing about Raoult. And then it was the turn of Marine Le Pen of the opposition National Rally (the former National Front), who would vigorously defend him. “So, let’s talks about Professor Raoult,” she began. “Tell me: weren’t there some ministers who were treated by Dr. Raoult? … Wasn’t there a President of the Republic who went to pay homage to Professor Raoult? And now you’re dragging him in the mud.”
What member of the Government was Le Pen referring to? Well, believe it or not, none other than the Sub-Minister for Citizenship Sabrina Agresti-Roubache! In March 2020, Agresti-Roubache fell sick with Covid and was treated by Raoult with hydroxychloroquine. Agresti-Roubache, who is from Marseille, was still a private citizen at the time. She credited Raoult’s treatment with making her symptoms disappear virtually overnight!
A contemporaneous interview with Agresti-Roubache on the topic can be found here. Three weeks later, French President Emmanuel Macron would make a surprise visit to Raoult at the professor’s hospital in Marseille, afterwards describing him as a “great scientist”.
Robert Kogon is the pen name of a widely-published journalist covering European affairs. Subscribe to his Substack and find him on Bluesky.
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I am very concerned about our planet – it hosts some seriously deluded folk.
Packing them into space ships and shipping them to a planet of their own might be a good idea.
There are so many of them that it would be easier for the rest of us to leave earth
Dear Mr Musk,
I am a big fan and would love to help you set up a Martian colony. I don’t mind how dangerous it is: it’s got to be better than here!
Yours sincerely,
PS GET ME OUT OF HERE, ELON! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
I’m not so sure about that. The majority of people on this planet live in much more traditionally (shall we call this sensibly?) organized societies and I think these people are actually even a small (but very vocal) minority in western Europe and the USA. IMO, they’re basically just the inhabitants of (parts of) Academistan and of associated territories usually occupied by these (civil service, government, all kinds of more-or-less charitable NGOs).
No, there aren’t. Empty vessels make the most noise.
Packing them into Michael Moore’s underpants is more fitting.
At least the deluded folk are all together on DS.
Including you…..
/sarc? No matter, I’ll take it as a badge of honour
The “Planet” fills the God-shaped hole in their lives.
They include holy children with miraculous visions; haters of heretics (“climate change deniers”); the ones obsessed with angels dancing on the pins, who know all manner of data that feeds their obsession and none of that which challenges it; and those who simply cannot change the topic.
State of the planet?
The state of him!
I’m seriously starting to think that the concept of the film “The Purge” is actually a really good idea.
The Da Vinci cake?
I wonder if the French police can detain this poor creature indefinitely on the grounds of mental illness? Clearly he has gender issues and obviously his mental faculties are seriously disturbed believing as he does that the planet is about to die.
For safety’s sake it’s probably best if he is locked up and the key thrown in The Seine.
That should do it.
You mean declare him InSeine? I’ll get my coat.
It was a darn sight better than the lame Da Vinci joke above though.
I do hope the gendarmerie address her by his correct pronoun.
Whatever point this person wanted to make, he failed to make it in a rational way so the oxygen of publicity should be deliberately withheld.
I would enjoy reporting such as “…the perpetrator, through an excess of entitlement and an inability to form whole sentences, tried to make a political point by being a bloody idiot. We will not be repeating his fevered ramblings here but you may seek them out for yourself if you are bored”
On the contrary, I think this lunatic should be given maximum publicity in order to show the world what climate change derangement can do to a person.
Did you say the same about all the lockdown protests?
They were justified…..
Protests against lockdown were entirely justified, as are all protests against communism.
Dude, put down the keyboard, you’re making an ass of yourself.
Remind me, which lockdown protests involved deliberate attempts to destroy private or public property?
Narcissist Psychopaths have taken over the world ! Where do we go to escape them?
We do indeed need to “Save the Planet” – from Globalists Billionaire jabbers and Zero Carbon Nut Jobs!
I’ve often wondered if a return to old school policing is the answer. Some huge cop having a quiet word while these clowns are at their protests.
Old school policing is still in use at demonstrations if you happen to be protesting about an issue the ruling class do not approve you protesting about.
Where’s Red?
Lurking…..
Good man.
With the quiet words being punctuated with the regular application of a truncheon to the cranium
Are we now relearning why our ancestors had penal colonies? Some people are difficult to live with. So why bother?
Could we not all chip in and buy a sliver of some African state and rename it Utopia then send the annoying to live there?
It wouldn’t be hard to find a lump of Africa with zero modern infrastructure and all the terrible co2 that entails.
And invite everyone to go there so the same people can demonstrate how stable multicultural societies are
Soon we will have penis colonies
Guess who or what is going to be sent to them?
Pregnant people who chestfeed?
What is the answer to “Climate Change”? More taxes, controlling people’s movement, eroding people’s civil liberties, meat and dairy products banned, eating bugs and owning nothing and “being happy”.
Am I denying climate change? No, it’s a natural cyclical issue and it can’t be stopped by megalomaniacs or Communists. Ancient Egypt and even Mesopotamia, even the Arabian peninsula were not always dust bowls, once upon a time those places were strewn with lush green and it’s climate was less hot as it is today.
Many of those places were wrecked because of damaging agricultural practices, they can be revived if managed correctly.
Ancient Egypt and even Mesopotamia, even the Arabian peninsula were not always dust bowls, once upon a time those places were strewn with lush green and it’s climate was less hot as it is today.
Ancient Egypt was a fairly narrow strip of countryside bordering the Nile which was fertile due to the regular Nile floods and a sophisticated irrigation system. Ancient mesopotamia (land between the two rivers) relied on Tigris and Euphrates as water sources for its equally sophisticated irrigation system. The land turned back into a desert when that was finally destroyed by warfare. I don’t know anything about Arabia but the desert of northern Africa, once the the bread basked of to Roman empire, came into being after the Romans had cut down most of the trees and their irrigation systems, too, had been destroyed by foreign invaders. And by the way, by that time (during the Roman period), it was warmer in Europe than it is today,
Today, the climate is hotter than ever! is nothing but climate changer bullshit (and fakery).
It has stopped, for the last 2 decades at least…
Nothing started. 10000 years ago we had the Ice Age. The human race has been around approximately 4000. Who started the Ice Age……Fred Flintstone?
Was it Pinochet who took communists out to sea in a helicopter and then threw them out?
Just think of all that fuel and carbon dioxide! A guillotine is climate-friendly.
At least we can compost them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9kw0A9_oCM
Not personally, I think he had people do it for him
Four words….
Care in the Community
It has a lot to answer for.
Methinks that’s more a case of criminal brain damage. Herostratentum, as this would be called in German (named after the guy who torched the Artemis temple in Ephesus to become famous).
I am glad to read this. I had no idea the planet was in danger from climate change until I saw cake smeared on an Old Master. Now I am aware of it I must do my bit to save the planet – by passing laws not to throw food away, for example.
Very droll!
It’s OK to damage art in museums and galleries if one is offended. Some statues are fair game too.
Your entire heritage is fair game to these people. That’s how intolerance works.
Since the Mona Lisa is obviously in a glass booth, it was never in danger.
Pointless then……
Aw… Bless.
This illustrates the danger of believing official hype based on faulty modelling ‘data’ instead of considering the actual data which tells a completely different story on climate.
It probably illustrates the danger of allowing intellectuals a prominent place in society. Ordinary people would not come to these conclusions on their own.
No.. they will just believe the most convincing voice (in their uninformed view)
Like the Brexiteers believed Boris and Russians believe Putin..
A remainer, a climate nut job, and a Putin hater.
Shall we add Trump to that list?
Any other confessions for us?
I can only assume that the chosen pen name of Lord Snotty is based upon a peculiar and misplaced sense of entitlement consequent to a repalcemenr of brain cells by mucus.
The brexiteers paid no heed to any establishment figure, pro or con. Hence the post-Brexit hysteria. Mass immigration, loss of sovereignty and a political class divorced from ordinary problems in society were the very clearly understood issues that led to the vote.
‘Climate nut job’
Well that really narrows the field down
If he ever faces prosecution for anything the judge will let him off for being perfectly on-narrative. The police will issue an apology for having interrupted his important work and politicians will make speeches applauding his bravery.
And he will receive an enormous sum by way of compensation for having been arrested in the first place.
Reporting these days is really in decline. No details whatsoever, saving the planet just doesn’t seem plausible to me. I want to know how much this cake cost, where did he purchase it, what type of gateau was it, he had taken a bite, was he enjoying it before hurling it and an unspecified number of rose petals at the painting, what was the significance of the rose petals and was this Jackal character part of a group or an independent? Should we be fearful of copycat attempts here in the UK, should all cakes, especially gateau only be sold to people with full I.D and finally, was he vaccinated and if so why wasn’t this mentioned?
Beat me to it, A p; I was just logging in to ask these important questions.
We need to know.
Who was pushing the chair?
No doubt it was James Hanson!
And was the person pushing the chair triple-jabbed?
From a sustainability point of view, just how much of the Black Forest was sacrificed for this stunt?
“In the primitive 20th century, rich elites at what was called ‘Berni Inns’ demolished the entire Black Forest to make one gateau. The Great Reset was entirely necessary to save the plant…”
Ce n’est pas un gâteau.
Leonardo da Vinci created a design for a flying machine, so is fully culpable for the climate catastrophe that is engulfing the world; and the fact that he painted a transwoman (Mona Lisa) is not enough to get him off the hook. As for Mona Lisa, their family was surely involved in the slave trade, so a worthy target for any cake wielding frog.
Him? Did you just misgender this plucky hero?
Da Vinci a “Plucky Hero” – faint praise if ever I heard it!
Mmmmmmm… cake!
French Police just announced it was treating the matter as trifling
Good god, it appears there were three of them
~Groan~
If he’d done that over here, some twat in the Guardian (or the Times) would have called it ‘a performance art piece’, gave him a grant and suggested he be awarded the Turner Prize.
I quite fancy him/she/it
Note to me. Do not stay out in the midday sun when mixing alcohol and medication
Let’s hope he gets his just desserts.
This deserves more upvotes!
The ice-ing is melting!
We’re all doomed!
At least he didn’t blame Putin!! But seriously folks, people like him should be in a mental home. There are far too many crazies allowed to do what they want in the name of climate change or some other government funded agenda they want to impose on us.
Proof, if proof were needed, that environmentalism is nihilistic.
This was an attempt at destruction for the sake of destruction of a popular artwork because it is popular, of a recognised great piece of art because it is recognised as great.
In some lowbrow and fatuous protest, what was achieved and in France a nation by European standards of low fossil fuel use, and even if one believes the premise of man made CO2 blah, blah.
These witless useless idiots cannot bring themselves to bother to make protest in perhaps a country which really does contribute to global emissions of said ‘poison gas’. It therefore follows, by not making any attempt to protest in Peking say. The why should the wider public take the slightest bit of notice – here?
A gateau, not a bun, or a cake but a gateau, did they bring it in.in one of those polystyrene boxes I wonder. I wonder how long they spent selecting said Gateau, and then purchasing it after all in France there are so many gateux to choose from. Obviously one of the middle class echo warriors, who else would gateau a work of art? The fact that the individual concerned has no respect for artworks produced in very different times, painted with such expertise and with non of the tools, technology, paints etc available these days. A great masters work wantonly defaced by an ugly, entitled individual with a gateaux
They should exhibit the glass plate and call it “Moaner Nutter”.
It’ll probably win the Turner Prize!
There’s a better word for left wing violence: terrorism. If climate nutjobs go within spitting distance of an oil depot, lethal force should be used against them, given the potential for disaster if they commit sabotage.
As for the cake-throwing moron, they should do unto him what was done to the lady who is claimed to have said ‘Let them eat cake!’
Mona Lisa is not the world’s best known painting. Surely Gilbert Shelton’s version of Douanier Rousseau’s ‘Sleeping Gypsy’ featuring Fat Freddy and his Cat is the world’s best known painting?
”…. far Left criminal damage is becoming a major problem.”
But it wouldn’t be if only our police forces showed their teeth (if they have any left). These are dimwitted, ignorant, arrogant, strutting and posturing NOWTS. One sniff of the Plod’s truncheon and they’d be off.
Oh! but Plod isn’t supposed to scare them off with his truncheon, is he? They might suffer irreparable psychological damage.
Good grief, these people are pathetic, and they’re being enabled by our law enforcers.