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Respect for the dead is a sacred obligation and any violation of this fundamental principle constitutes a moral crime before it is even a professional fault. This was said this Sunday, Dr. Mohamed Bekkat Berkani, president of the National Council of the Order of Doctors, at Independent young, In response to the scandal that shakes the Salim-Zmirli hospital in El-Harrach, where a nurse was suspended after filming and broadcast live on Tiktok the preparation of the body of a deceased.
Dr. Berkani was categorical, he said that “the immediate suspension of this nurse is a justified and necessary measure”. Faced with this gesture of extreme gravity, unworthy of the health mission, which provoked a moral earthquake in public opinion and a wave of national indignation, he denounced “a serious breach, at the same time ethical, ethical, ethical and human”, recalling that “the deceased deserves absolute respect, first as a human being but also from a religious point of view”.
In medical practice as in our traditions, the face of a dead man is always covered to preserve his dignity. “This unfortunate gesture, which transforms a solemn moment into a digital spectacle, constitutes an unacceptable desecration,” he hammered. For the President of the Order of Doctors, the gravity of the act is no doubt, stressing that “there has been a violation of medical secrecy and affected in the image of a deceased person, who cannot defend himself. Filming and exposing a body without authorization is a serious fault that should lead to legal proceedings ”.
Going further, Dr. Berkani spoke of the need for psychiatric expertise against the nurse, noting that “this behavior is abnormal and worrying. It is not only contrary to medical ethics, it strikes morality, our societal and religious values. It perhaps reveals an imbalance which must be evaluated ”. However, he argued that this case can, in any case, remain without follow-up, hammering that “the Ministry of Health must go beyond the suspension. Corrective and exemplary measures must be applied to restore the confidence of citizens ”.
Faced with the shock wave caused by the video, the reaction of the health authorities was immediate. This Sunday morning, the management of the Salim-Zmirli hospital announced the suspension of the nurse, pending the results of the administrative investigation and legal proceedings. In its press release, the administration described these actions as “serious and inadmissible”, denouncing a “blatant attack on ethics rules, moral values and laws framing the exercise of the nursing profession”.
Already the day before, the Ministry of Health had reacted first, publishing in the evening a press release condemning “inhuman behavior, foreign to our religious and societal values, and in total contradiction with the fundamental principles of the profession of nurse and the noble mission of the health sector”. The department expressed its deep outrage, denouncing acts which “undermine the dignity of the dead and hurt the feelings of the bereaved families”. The ministry has promised the application of “all legal and regulatory measures” against questioning, including legal proceedings, while reaffirming its “firm and irrevocable commitment to protect the honor of patients and the dignity of the deceased”.
Anger and amazement
The video, which has become viral in a few hours, upset social networks, where anger and amazement reactions have multiplied. Calls for exemplary sanctions have invaded the web, accompanied by solemn reminders with moral and religious values that found the medical profession. “Transforming death into digital entertainment content is a crossing of all limits,” said a commentator, summarizing collective indignation.
Beyond the moral and institutional reaction, the legal question is now acutely essential. According to legal experts, this gesture can constitute several criminal offenses, liable to heavy sanctions. The Algerian penal code is explicit. Article 153 represses two to five years in prison, accompanied by a fine ranging from two to ten million cents, any act involving the integrity of a corpse.
A simple gesture or behavior deemed disrespectful towards a lifeless body may be enough to characterize the offense. The dissemination of such images is also involved in privacy, incrimination defined by article 303 bis of the penal code. It is liable from six months to three years in prison and a fine of up to thirty million cents. In this file, the fault is all the more heavy as the author of the video is a nurse.
However, article 201 of the penal code punishes one to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of two to ten million cents any healthcare professional, doctor, surgeon, pharmacist, midwife, who reveals a secret linked to his function. Relatives of the deceased are entitled to file a complaint with the public prosecutor in order to trigger a judicial investigation. They can also require compensation for the damage suffered.
For many specialists, this case must serve as an electroshock. It recalls the urgency of raising awareness among health professionals, but also students and anyone involved in the medical sector, with the consequences of such drifts. Especially since the filmed gesture is not only an individual fault, it weakens the confidence of citizens towards the public hospital and tarnishes the image of a profession supposed to be synonymous with humanity and compassion.
Finally, this scandal recalls a universal truth, human dignity does not stop with death. It extends to the memory of the deceased. The desecration is to injure families, but also the whole of society. No technological modernity, no digital evolution can justify such transgression. Consequently, the greatest challenge today is to restore confidence in hospital structures and to reaffirm, without ambiguity, that human dignity remains sacred, even in death.