Unlicensed Cambodian doctor imprisoned for spreading HIV
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A Cambodian court has sentenced an unlicensed medical practitioner to 25 years in prison after finding him responsible for infecting more than 100 villagers with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by reusing unsanitized syringes. At least 10 of the infected people have died.
A spokesman for the court in the northwestern province of Battambang said Yem Chrin was found guilty Thursday of torture and cruel behavior resulting in death, intentionally spreading HIV and practicing medicine without a license.
Yem Chrin was arrested in December last year and taken into protective custody, with the authorities fearing he might be lynched by residents of Roka village, where at least 106 of the 800 people tested were found to be infected with HIV. Local newspapers reported the total was 300.
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