French doctor goes on trial accused of poisoning 30 patients

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00:00In the face of shocking accusations,

00:03Fédéric Péchier arrived at the courthouse seeming to be in a state of calm.

00:07I'm relaxed.

00:09Are you looking forward to telling your side?

00:11I'm not saying anything else.

00:13In the crowd, the defendant's family,

00:16including his mother who came to hear his first words before the jury.

00:22I deny the charges against me.

00:24I have never poisoned anyone or poisoned IV bags.

00:27I am innocent.

00:29Prosecutors accused the former anesthesiologist

00:31of poisoning the IV bags of 30 of his colleagues' patients,

00:35causing cardiac arrest and then swooping in to resuscitate them,

00:39to look like the hero and discredit his co-workers.

00:42Twelve of the patients died.

00:44The defense says there's no evidence linking Péchier to the crimes.

00:48What is our position on the poisonings?

00:50To be clear, there were some.

00:52How many, we don't know, because experts disagree.

00:55It's obvious that there was someone doing this, but the question is, who?

00:58One hundred and fifty civil parties are taking part in the trial,

01:03including relatives of the patients who were killed,

01:05along with patients who survived the poisonings.

01:08Was it a shock to see him in the courtroom today?

01:12We expected it, but he was ready for it.

01:16What are you expecting to hear from him during this trial?

01:19We're waiting to hear his arguments.

01:23According to the victim's lawyers,

01:25the evidence in the case clearly points to Péchier.

01:28We have a strong and clear case.

01:31It's been eight and a half years that he's been promising

01:33to reveal his side of the story, and we are still waiting.

01:36If convicted of the charges, Péchier faces life.

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