The Riga District Court in Jurmala found immunologist Evgeny Nikiforenko guilty of sexual assault on patients and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. Additionally, the doctor is prohibited from working in medicine for seven years.
The Riga District Court in Jurmala has issued a verdict in one of the most high-profile medical criminal cases in Latvia in recent years. Immunologist Evgeny Nikiforenko has been found guilty of committing a number of sexual offenses against patients and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
In addition to the prison term, the court imposed five years of probation supervision and prohibited the convicted individual from working as a medical professional or auxiliary medical staff for seven years after serving the sentence.
The prosecution requested a harsher punishment — 14 years in prison, five years of probation supervision, and a ten-year ban on working in the medical field.
The court found the doctor guilty on seven counts of the criminal case.
According to the indictment, the charges involved sexual acts against patients without their consent, committed by exploiting the trust that arises between a doctor and a patient. The investigation also implicated the accused in episodes of sexual violence involving penetration against the victims' will.
In the criminal proceedings, five patients were granted the status of particularly protected victims. They demanded compensation for moral damages totaling 14,000 euros.
Nikiforenko himself did not admit guilt. He also contested the victims' claims for compensation and denied the charges during the trial.
Before the verdict was delivered, restrictions were imposed on the doctor, including a ban on professional activities, leaving the country, and contacting the victims.
The case received widespread public attention following the publication of journalistic investigations. Previously, several women reported to journalists about medical manipulations that, according to them, did not correspond to the doctor's specialization and were perceived by them as sexual violence.
The court has so far announced a shortened version of the verdict.
After the full text of the decision is prepared, the parties will be able to appeal it in the Riga Regional Court. Thus, the judicial process is not yet completely finished, but the first-instance court has already found the doctor guilty and imposed a substantial prison sentence.
