Posts
A self-styled healer has been
indicted by a Swiss court on charges that he intentionally infected 16 people
with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in cases going back more than a decade,
authorities said Thursday.
The unidentified man was indicted by
a five-judge panel in Bern-Mitelland regional court on charges of intentionally
spreading human disease and causing serious bodily harm, offenses that carry
maximum penalties of five to 10 years respectively, said the regional
prosecutor's office in Bern, the Swiss capital.
The office said in a statement that
most of the victims attended a music school that the man operated.
A spokesman for the prosecutor,
Christof Scheurer, said the man also practiced as an unlicensed, self-styled
acupuncturist - a trade which he is believed to have used between 2001 and 2005
as a pretext to prick and infect some of his victims with blood that was
infected with AIDS.
HIV is transmitted through bodily
fluids such as blood, semen or breast milk.
The police investigation concluded
that the man had used various pretexts to prick his victims, but it remained
unclear exactly what objects he had used. In other cases, the investigation
found, the self-described healer - who is not HIV-positive - had served his
victims drinks that made them pass out so he could infect them.
"The defendant denies
everything that is alleged," the prosecutor's statement added.
The cases apparently came to light
when Bern hospital Inselspital began to investigate similar complaints of
infections in connection with a so-called healer.
Prosecutors say the probe, which was
launched after one alleged victim filed a criminal complaint in early 2005, has
finally been completed, but that it took years because of a number of
difficulties ranging from the use of genetic testing to identifying victims
while adhering to protections for patient privacy.
Proceedings against a second suspect
in the case have been permanently closed, the statement said, because his
involvement could not be confirmed.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
