The precautionary principle, applied without reservations, by the association of students of the University of Technology of Belfort Montbéliard. During the welcome party, on the evening of September 5 at Sevenans, which brought together more than 600 students, two of them believe they were drugged without their knowledge.
But they only give the alert two days later. Too late for medical tests. The suspicion could not be confirmed by the laboratory of the Nord Franche-Comté hospital. “We immediately took their suspicions very seriously, explaining to them that we would support them in legal action, by filing a civil action if they file a complaint. We also accompanied them on a personal level”, explains Simon Lejeune, head of integration at the UTBM student association.
When in doubt and in agreement with the management of the UTBM, the student association has decided tocancel all the evenings planned for this month of integration. “We preferred to give ourselves time to think about additional measures to avoid this type of incident”.
– Christopher Beck
For the moment, the two students, a boy and a girl who wish to remain discreet, in particular about their symptoms, have not filed a complaint. But they are fine and have no after-effects from this episode.
The management of the University placed itself alongside the association to support it in its choice. “The suspension of evenings was really a decision of the students we accompanied”, explains Virginie Breuillard, prevention advisor at the UTBM. “We immediately noticed rather positive reactions from students and their families who praised the courage of the students of the association”.
The student association now think about how go to court on his side. In the meantime, she is thinking about securing her next festive meetings as much as possible. During this evening of September 5, four security guards and four rescuers were mobilized, alongside the association’s leaders. “Glass capotes” (lids for drinks) were available.