Court Upholds Sentence for Psychiatrist Cimický: Five Years for Abuse, Colleagues Knew for Decades

The Prague Municipal Court has upheld the sentence handed to well-known psychiatrist Jan Cimický — five years in prison with no possibility of parole and a ten-year ban on practising medicine. The 78-year-old doctor was found guilty of 35 counts of coercion and four counts of sexual assault, committed between 1979 and almost the present day.

According to appellate court chairman Pavel Benda, the court of first instance got everything right: it correctly established the facts of the case, properly assessed the statute-of-limitations issue and the legal classification of the offences, and reasonably found the defendant guilty. "We fully understand that this is a very harsh sentence, especially given the defendant's age, but it is entirely appropriate. We found no grounds to reduce it," the judge stressed. The verdict is now final.

Victims included patients, students and performers

In total, Cimický faced 39 separate charges spanning more than four decades. The court found nothing that could cast doubt on the victims' testimony. According to the judge, most of the victims were women who came to the renowned psychiatrist for help in moments of desperation, only to leave him "with an even heavier burden of psychological problems." Besides his patients, the abuse also affected students, artists and other women who trusted Cimický as a well-known and respected public figure — an author and a frequent guest on television programmes.

Colleagues knew but stayed silent

The judge also drew particular attention to the fact that Cimický's behaviour had been known for far longer than previously assumed. According to him, at least three doctors testified in court and categorically confirmed that his strange attitude toward patients and inappropriate conduct had been known for a long time. Yet only one of them — the then-director of the psychiatric hospital in Bohnice — actually ended his professional cooperation with Cimický because of it. Two other doctors, aware of what was happening since as far back as the 1980s, did nothing. "The only question I can ask them is: what did they do? Moral responsibility rests on them too," the judge said.

Compensation reduced, verdict final

The appellate court only changed the ruling on compensation amounts. The court of first instance had awarded victims sums ranging from 80,000 to 120,000 crowns, and in one case 500,000 crowns, but failed to justify these figures convincingly enough. The appellate court reduced the compensation for all victims to 30,000 crowns, leaving them free to pursue the remainder through civil proceedings. Cimický's lawyer, Miroslav Kučerka, told reporters he would likely file an extraordinary appeal. The defendant himself did not attend the hearing.

Actress and singer Jana Fabianová, whose public statement in October 2021 about being attacked by the psychiatrist triggered one of the most high-profile trials of recent years, called what happened "a brutality that must never be allowed to happen again." She urged people not to stand by and to protect victims, and thanked everyone who supported her throughout the fight.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz