Plastic surgeon denies rape charge
The trial began in Malmö on Thursday morning of a 53-year-old plastic surgeon accused of raping one of his patients. A decision has been made to hold the trial behind closed doors to protect the identity of the 23-year-woman he is suspected of raping.
The request, made by the woman's lawyer, Elisabeth Fritz, was granted by the court despite the protestations of the surgeon's legal representative, Mikael Larsson.
Prosecutor Bo Albrektsson has called for the woman to be awarded damages amounting to 450,000 kronor ($64,000).
According to the prosecutor, the woman was mistreated by the doctor on two occasions. In 2003, he administered an anaesthetic in a manner that endangered her life.
The plastic surgeon was then remanded in custody at the end of June on suspicion of raping the 23-year-old patient while she was anaesthetized.
"The seriousness of the rape was made worse by the fact that he abused the woman's trust and put her in a life-threatening situation," said Albrektsson.
Mikael Nilsson replied that his client had neither raped the 23-year-old not breached regulations governing the administration of anaesthetics.
The prosecutor has previously said that investigators have found DNA linking the man to the crime.
There has been some controversy surrounding the case after prosecutor Albrektsson decided to abandon the investigations into five other reports of sexual molestation at the hands of the surgeon.
A police officer involved in the investigation who criticized the prosecutor's decision has now been removed from the case.
But following a review of the cases a decision was reached to resume the remaining investigations under the direction of a different prosecutor.
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The request, made by the woman's lawyer, Elisabeth Fritz, was granted by the court despite the protestations of the surgeon's legal representative, Mikael Larsson.
Prosecutor Bo Albrektsson has called for the woman to be awarded damages amounting to 450,000 kronor ($64,000).
According to the prosecutor, the woman was mistreated by the doctor on two occasions. In 2003, he administered an anaesthetic in a manner that endangered her life.
The plastic surgeon was then remanded in custody at the end of June on suspicion of raping the 23-year-old patient while she was anaesthetized.
"The seriousness of the rape was made worse by the fact that he abused the woman's trust and put her in a life-threatening situation," said Albrektsson.
Mikael Nilsson replied that his client had neither raped the 23-year-old not breached regulations governing the administration of anaesthetics.
The prosecutor has previously said that investigators have found DNA linking the man to the crime.
There has been some controversy surrounding the case after prosecutor Albrektsson decided to abandon the investigations into five other reports of sexual molestation at the hands of the surgeon.
A police officer involved in the investigation who criticized the prosecutor's decision has now been removed from the case.
But following a review of the cases a decision was reached to resume the remaining investigations under the direction of a different prosecutor.
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