Cambodian Doctor Jailed For 25 Years For Infecting 300 People With HIV

A Cambodian court has convicted an unlicensed medical
practitioner of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison for spreading
HIV among almost 300 villagers.

A spokesman for the court in the northwestern province of
Battambang said Yem Chrin, 56, was found guilty on Thursday of torture and
cruel behaviour resulting in death, intentionally spreading HIV and practising
medicine without a licence.

Ten of the villagers have died since the outbreak began.

Authorities detected an epidemic of human immunodeficiency
virus, the virus that causes AIDS, on December 9 when they started testing a
community in Battambang. The victims ranged from a two-year-old to elderly in
their 80s.

It first started after a 74-year-old man tested positive for
HIV in November. The man convinced others in the village who had also visited
Yem Chrin to also get tested.

The court found Yem Chrin guilty of operating health
treatment without license, injecting people with syringes that spread HIV and
torturing people to die.

Yem Chrin admitted to routinely reusing syringes but denied intentionally
spreading the virus.

He was arrested in December last year and taken into
protective custody, with the authorities fearing he might be lynched by
residents of Roka village

Police said Yem Chrin was a well-respected doctor who
villagers believed had healing powers and who provided cheap treatment for the
poor.