Assaults on medical professionals in Kyrgyzstan to be punishable by fines or imprisonment

10.06.2024

Article published on the 24.kg website

Kyrgyzstan’s Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy has approved amendments to a number of legislative texts at first reading.

Amendments have been made to a law designed to protect medics in the performance of their duties by preventing violence and attacks against them.

“The media regularly covers assaults on medical professionals which suggests that these are not just isolated incidents but part of a general trend. Attacks on medics, including those reported in the press, highlight the fact that they lack proper protection when carrying out their duties”, says the legislation’s explanatory note.

Those who drafted the amendments say that assaults damage a doctor’s mental health, as well as causing physical pain and suffering.

A new article has been added to Kyrgyzstan’s Criminal Code “ On Obstructing the Legitimate Activity of Medical Workers” which includes the following provisions:

• Obstructing the legitimate professional activity of medical workers in the performance of their official duties with the threat of violence, by causing minor harm to health or minor material (property) damage, shall be punishable by two months to one year of community service, or a fine ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 soms;

• The same act involving the use of violence that causes less serious or significant harm to health or causing significant damage shall be punishable by a fine of between 50,000 and 100,000 soms, or up to three years’ imprisonment;

• The same act that results in very serious harm to health, or causing major damage shall be punishable by three to five years’ imprisonment;

• The same act that causes excessive harm to a patient’s health shall be punishable by five to eight years’ imprisonment.

• The unlawful interference by, or the involvement of, unqualified persons in the activities of doctors, as well as obstructing a medic’s legitimate professional work by showing disrespect, insulting behaviour, use of foul language, or making obscene gestures, including through mass media or telecommunications networks, shall be punishable by a fine of 10,000 soms.

The law “On Protecting the Health of Citizens in the Kyrgyz Republic” stipulates that medical professionals have the right to insurance in cases of injury or trauma inflicted on them by patients, their relatives or other third parties in their performance of their official or professional duties.

“It is therefore essential to grant medical workers legal state protection to defend their honour, dignity and personal integrity and to ensure they have a safe environment in which to operate”, said the bill’s authors.

Source:https://24.kg/vlast/296224_vkyirgyizstane_zanapadenie_namedikov_budut_shtrafovat_ili_sajat_vtyurmu/