Psychiatrist Jan Cimický, accused of sexual assault, will not be accepting state award

Psychiatrist and writer Jan Cimický will not be accepting the state service award which he was due to receive from President Miloš Zeman in light of the sexual assault claims recently made against him by several women. The information comes from a statement provided by Mr Cimický to the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

He said further that he intends to defend himself against the accusations, but that this defence will not be public, in order to respect doctor-patient confidentiality.

The first woman to come forward with an accusation against Dr Cimický was the actress and singer Jana Fabiánová, who did so after it was announced that he is to be awarded for his services. The public accusation encouraged other alleged victims to come forward with their own stories of sexual harassment or assault by the psychiatrist.