SHOCK AND outrage over the arrest and remand of a Larnaca gynaecologist for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a patient has raised a question over the naming of certain police suspects.
Although police have said the doctor is in custody and no longer a danger to patients, the public, women especially, have been demanding to know his identity so they can determine whether or not they have been victims.
The head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society, Marios Liasides, yesterday called on the authorities to name the 56-year-old doctor.
These allegations “injure other colleagues too so we would prefer if the justice system chose to make his name public,” Liasides said.
Additionally, the Health Minister, Stavros Malas yesterday described the case as “a dark page for the medical profession”. Malas said that he hoped that the police had all the evidence they needed to prosecute the doctor.
The 56-year-old has not been charged yet and under data privacy rules, suspects cannot be named as there is an obligation to respect a person’s presumed innocence until he is proven guilty.
That is why during his remand hearing on Thursday the court only allowed the media in on the condition they did not reveal the doctor’s name.
“His private life must be protected – the man has not been proven guilty and such serious allegations could destroy him,” a high-ranking judge told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The Medical Association’s head, Andreas Demetriou, and Michalis Katsounotos, the police spokesman, said that the doctor was innocent until proven guilty.
Asked why there are often high profile cases of well-known individuals whom the press name, the judge said: “Some of these people have no [professional] reputation to uphold”.
Legally, the state including the police would be vulnerable to law suits if they revealed the doctor’s name at this stage, police sources said.
The head of the Journalists’ Union Antonis Makrides said that the press generally refrains from naming individuals before they are charged with a crime.
“Naming him before he is charged is akin to ruining him, and sometimes this means destroying innocent people,” Makrides said.
Makrides said that following official charges, journalists’ ethical obligation shifts and the press may have a reason to name the doctor in order to protect the public.
During a remand hearing the police ask the court for a certain amount of time to collect evidence against an individual.
In the case of the doctor, the police are looking into whether he indecently assaulted or took sexual advantage of anyone, whether he breached personal data and used a drug he was not qualified to administer.
The Attorney-general can then assess the body of evidence and decide whether the state will press charges.
This is usually the stage at which the press start naming the accused: “when the police conclude their investigation and decide to press charges, then we – as the press – may be free to name them,” Makrides said.
Katsounotos said yesterday that police were building a solid case against the gynaecologist who allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted his 26-year-old patient.
After a second woman aged 25, came forward on Thursday, Katsounotos said yesterday there was a prima facie case to investigate even more incidents.
“Based on the analysis and processing of evidence confiscated from the suspect’s gynaecological clinic, it seems… that other women, patients of the suspect, were obviously victims of the same treatment,” Katsounotos said.
Police are looking into possible offences committed from April 17, 2010 last year until September 13 this year.
Police chief Michalis Papageorgiou said that the investigative team would consist of several members, including experts, to ensure a thorough and serious investigation.
“This is a very delicate and serious matter which is treated by the police in the context of complete confidentiality and discretion when it comes to the identity of the people and the personal data of possible victims,” Katsounotos said.
The 26-year-old woman told the police that she woke up during ‘surgery’ to discover that she was tied while the naked doctor was holding her hand over his penis.
The woman was alone with the doctor – in Cyprus there is no legal obligation for doctors to have a nurse when seeing patients.
Soon after his arrest, police sources said that they found naked pictures of the 26-year-old on the doctor’s camera as well as around 150 pictures of other naked women on his computer.
State pathologist Eleni Antoniou told the court that the 26-year-old woman had not been operated on, and hadn’t needed an operation at all. It had also been her second ‘surgery’. A previous complaint against the doctor 18 months ago was not pursued due to lack of evidence.
