From couple of months ago we found a shocking news in the media :
The vice police arrests a famous cardiologist for soliciting prostitution in his clinic !!
Shocking headlines in all newspapers with even more shocking details on how that famous cardiologist who has an official position at the National heart institute ran that prostitution ring from his clinic at Dokki and how famous doctors were clients ..etc. The police reportedly found drugs and scandalous CDs filmed what was taking place in his clinic !!
I was quite disgusted and angry because that Doctor , Dr. Tarek Abdel Ghafar was the physician of my grandma’s sister who insisted that he was innocent “ because he is a respectable and honest man” as she described him. I honestly believe the Police because they will not go after a person in his position if there is no smoking gun , we are speaking about people’s reputation and the man had no political activity background that would make us suspect that that were fabricated charges but I was wrong.
After several months of his arrest ,we found that this man whose name was stained by pimping charges is totally innocent and it was a set up !! Yes a set up , the CDs were Dina’s scandal CDs and the drugs were actually medicine’s samples from his clinic !! It seems that Abdel Ghafar was expected to be become the next chairman of the heart institute and someone did not like that and used to his connections to destroy him with all what the word “destroy” means !!
Now Tarek was lucky enough to have a brother who works at the cabinet that helped him to reach the media in order to save his damaged image. He appeared in several talk shows like Misr Al Naharada and Manshat speaking about his painful experience and how he was treated after his arrest.
We have to ask ourselves many questions in this case : What if Dr. Tarek did not have a brother working in the cabinet !!!?? What if he were not a famous doctor and had some connections in the media !!?? Have those officers who raided his clinic been punished !!??
Abdel Ghafar’s case is a human rights case from the first degree and believe me if I tell you that there are many people like him who are and were framed in similar cases and did not have this chance to defend them like that.
I feel obliged to write this post because I was among the people who believed the police claims.
Poor Dr. Ghafar. Good for your grandma's sister for sticking by him, and good for you for the correction.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this post. This is the type of thing that happens in highly competitive settings. Usually a reputation is sullied by innuendo, rumour, gossip, fake concern that the person is "unwell", "stressed", "losing it". Sometimes people go to such lengths as these for higher stakes issues.
ReplyDeleteIn my own field of psychiatry, and in Canada, where I live, one aspiring chair of the department reported the other to the law for a white collar crime of defrauding the provincial health care system, others have been falsely accused of having sex with a patient (a career ender; loss of licence, livelihood), of sex with a student (same), or malpractice where there was none.
Dr Aduh Ghafer was indeed lucky that his brother was able to help him. Hopefully his media appearances not only help restore his own reputation but let people know to think twice before believing such allegations.
Thank you again, for writing this, and being so courageous about it.
I don't see it even as an issue, either legal or moral. It is just between him and his employer.
ReplyDeleteHopefully once I will find such a society 8)