• In early July, a 19-year-old medical student was found dead on the A27 motorway, hit by a truck.

  • He had just attended an integration evening where he was encouraged to drink a lot of alcohol.

  • The young man's father appealed to the Ministry of Higher Education to adopt a charter to raise awareness among the organizers of evenings of this type.

We cannot legislate against stupidity. In early July, a 19-year-old young man died, hit by a heavy truck, below a bridge on the A27 motorway in the commune of Sainghin-en-Mélantois, in the North. The investigation determined that the young man, Simon Guermonprez, was coming out of an evening of integration into medicine during which he had consumed significant amounts of alcohol. His father, Daniel, denounces the lack of supervision of these rites of hazing, a practice however prohibited by law.

Hazing, everyone knows what it's all about but no one really talks about it. And even less since the law sanctioned this practice, which has become an offense punishable by one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros since 2017. The integration rituals have not ceased, however, they have simply become more “soft”, at least on paper. Proof of this is the drama that culminated in Simon's death on July 9. According to Daniel, his father, the police investigation confirmed that he had indeed participated in an "integration evening" started at the citadel of Lille and ended in a tiny apartment in which a hundred people had gathered. people. “My son doesn't usually drink, he doesn't like it. At that evening, he was made to drink at least 9 large syringes of alcohol, ”assures Daniel Guermonprez.

The fear of "being left out"

Admittedly, the young man suspected that he was going to consume alcohol, it is moreover for this reason that he had given up taking his car.

But certainly not so much in such a short time, "strongly encouraged to do it and accepting it so as not to be sidelined", regrets his father.

And it is from this blood alcohol level that the tragic result follows: a return home by Uber, a detour then on this highway bridge to take a selfie in the middle of the night, a phone that falls and a young man who tries to take it. recover on the roadway.

According to the Lille prosecutor's office, the investigation is continuing and it is not yet possible to determine any responsibilities that led to this tragedy. For his father, it is unthinkable that there is no sanction. “With our lawyer, we will file a complaint. It remains to be seen who it will be directed against, ”he says. But this grieving man knows that such a process can take years to reach a trial. For him, the most important thing is that this does not happen again. "This is the meaning of the petition and the open letter we sent to Frédérique Vidal, the Minister of Higher Education," insists Daniel Guermonprez.

It was after the tragedy that Simon's father discovered that a law existed against hazing, as well as a prevention guide published in 2018 by the ministry. "It is also rather well done but at best, the integration organizers are informed and they play the fool, at worst they are not," he laments. To the already existing arsenal, Daniel Guermonprez wishes to add the “Simon charter”. A simplified text that fits in one page recalling the law and the main principles of the prevention guide. “This charter must be signed by all the parties concerned, the organizers and the universities, and attached to the invitations to these integration evenings. In this way, no one will be able to say that he did not know, ”insists Simon's father. A commitment to responsibility which, Daniel Guermonprez hopes,will prevent the abuses that led to the death of his son.

Miscellaneous

Belgium: 18 students sent back to correctional for manslaughter during a hazing

Justice

Marseille: Marine firefighters condemned after a hazing

  • Hazing

  • Medicine

  • Student

  • Society