At this moment there are no indications that the students who became unwell in Risoul were drugged with GHB. Three students whose blood was examined, had no traces of the drug in their blood, but did have traces of a lot of alcohol. This was said by the French public prosecutor who is leading the investigation. ‘I advise students who think they were drugged to file a complaint.’

Due to the importance of the investigation, he cannot go into details, says Florent Crouhy on the phone. The French public prosecutor of the district of Gap, in which Risoul lies, is leading the investigation into the Dutch students who became unwell in a bar in the French ski resort.

Among them were also students from Nijmegen. A number of them were taken away by ambulance. One of them was still in hospital three weeks after the events. Student association Carolus Magnus, which had yet to travel to Risoul, decided to cancel its ski trip.

‘Even if traces of other drugs are found, you still need to be able to prove you were drugged’

Crouhy does not rule out the possibility that students were drugged in Risoul, but he would like to firmly refute the stories circulating in the Dutch media.

Gaps in the memory

The gendarmerie (the French police, ed.) was first notified by a fireman on Tuesday night, 22 March, around 11 p.m., after a student had become unwell in the bar La Grotte du Yeti, Crouhy says. ‘The woman told the firemen she thought she had been drugged. They advised her to go straight to the hospital for a blood test. The woman did not want that.’

That same evening, according to Crouhy, the president of a Dutch student association also approached the firemen. ‘He told them that three other students, all men, had become unwell after visiting the bar. Among other things, they had holes in their memory and thought they had been drugged.’ The men agreed to a blood analysis, which was taken a few hours later.

A day later, on 23 March, the police opened an investigation. The three students – two of them live in Utrecht, one in Rotterdam – are heard. ‘They were nauseous, very tired and perspiring a lot, but they were not admitted to hospital. They told us that they had drunk a lot of alcohol and that they often do that, but that they were not aware of these consequences. They had not noticed anyone in the bar who might have put something in their drink.’

Alcohol

The results of the blood analysis arrived a few days later, on Monday 28 March. ‘No trace of GHB was found in their blood,’ says Crouhy. ‘They were, however, heavily under the influence of alcohol – one of the three even had a shocking amount of alcohol in his blood.’

The students’ blood is still being tested for other drugs, the results of which are expected within a few days. Crouhy tempers the expectations. ‘Even if traces of other drugs are found, you still need to be able to prove that you were drugged.’

So why do so many students think they have been drugged with GHB? Crouhy suspects that a national prevention campaign against GHB is the cause. ‘The aim of the campaign is to warn people to watch their drinks while going out. This message was shown on television screens in La Grotte du Yeti, among other places.’

Report

A survey by the National Chamber of Associations (LKvV) among its member associations revealed that at least 22 Dutch students became unwell in Risoul. Is it impossible that the students were drugged with GHB or another drug? ‘No, I’m not saying that,’ says Crouhy. ‘I don’t want to exclude any scenarios, but at the moment nothing points in that direction. I call on students who think they have been drugged to report this to the French police. All reports will be seriously investigated. I want the truth.’

‘All reports will be seriously investigated’

As part of the investigation, the manager and staff of La Grotte du Yeti were also heard. Whether video footage of the bar was examined, the public prosecutor refused to confirm ‘in the interest of the investigation’.