Fake doctor sentenced to eight years in prison

TEKİRDAĞ

The ‘fake doctor’ who introduced herself as a practicing physician in a state hospital in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ last year was sentenced to eight years of prison and 18,000 Turkish Liras of punitive fine.

Twenty-one-year-old Ayşe Özkiraz who introduced herself as a “general practitioner” at Çerkezköy State Hospital and was detained after other doctors became suspicious and filed a complaint, was arrested on Oct. 25.

Özkiraz appealed the decision through her lawyer. The lawyer’s appeal to the higher court was rejected.

Following the investigation, a lawsuit was filed against Özkiraz with a prison sentence of two to five years for “forgery of official documents,” one to three years for “forgery of private documents” and another two to five years for “opposition to the regulation law of unauthorized medicine crimes.”

Özkiraz appeared before the judge in the fifth hearing of the case.

Making her defense in the hearing, she stated that she regrets what she did and apologized.

Özkiraz claimed that she did not make any financial gain during her time in the hospital, and she only showed her intern card to her ex-boyfriend and did not use it anywhere else.

“I admit that I performed a stitching once in a surgery and I deeply regret my actions. I started medication for the deterioration of my mental health. My family and siblings have been ridiculed and other students at school are making fun of my brother because of the news. I am ashamed of this situation,” she explained, demanding her release.

The prosecutor stated that he repeated his final opinion on the merits announced in the previous hearing and demanded a sentence in line with the final opinion and the continuation of Özkiraz’s penalty.

Oğuz Kağıtçı, Özkiraz’s lawyer, insisted that while his client did use the title of “doctor,” she did not receive any financial benefit.

“No one can come forward and say that ‘Ayşe Özkiraz treated me.’ The case received great coverage in the press. She’s going to pay for this for the rest of her life because of the news and will always carry this mistake as a burden on her shoulders,” Kağıtçı said in his client’s defense.

After the defense, the court sentenced Özkiraz to a total of eight years imprisonment and a punitive fine of 18,000 liras.

The court deferred the announcement of the verdict on the one-year sentence for “forgery of private documents” and released Özkiraz.