The Government has issued a partial pardon for a doctor from s’Arenal Health Centre who was convicted of spying on the health records of his colleagues.
His two and a half year sentence for revealing secrets, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015, has been reduced to a 15 month suspended sentence.
The doctor was denounced by his colleagues in 2011 for using his IB-Salut login to access the confidential records of 5 colleagues 25 times.
The victims realised their details had been accessed when colour changes showed up in their computer records. The doctor denied the allegations, insisting that someone else must have used his login details, but a colleague witnessed him using the computer and his fingerprints were found on the keys.
Harsh sentence
Disclosure of secrets by a public official is punishable by imprisonment and the Supreme Court ruled that even if he didn’t use the information, accessing it is a violation of a person’s right to keep sensitive data private.
The court stated that "the penalties are of special gravity in relation to the conduct" and recommended that a pardon be raised through the usual channels.
The doctor's sentence has been suspended for five years whilst a petition for clemency is processed.
Ruling in favour of the grace measure, the Ministry of Justice said, “taking into account the circumstances of the convict there are reasons of justice and equity.”
The partial pardon, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, is on condition that the doctor does not commit another malicious crime within the next three years.