A doctor suspected of assault after performing circumcisions on boys in Uppsala denies any crime, his lawyer Stefan Wallin said, after all of those arrested were released. Police arrested eight people at a beauty salon in Sala Backe in Uppsala on Sunday, while the doctor was carrying out the procedures, according to Aftonbladet and SVT.
The doctor was initially held on suspicion of gross assault. The classification was later changed to assault, and he was released on Monday. Three people have been notified of suspicion in the investigation, Svenska Dagbladet reported.
"He has performed circumcisions on boys and followed the law in Sweden. He has taken all necessary measures such as assessments, hygiene and sterility. He also has permission from Ivo to carry out the procedures," Wallin said.
He said the doctor has a Swedish medical licence and competence in urology, runs a clinic in another part of Sweden, and has travelled to other parts of the country to perform circumcisions before.
One boy was taken to hospital in connection with the police operation and underwent surgery, leaving hospital on Monday, according to the Ă…klagarmyndigheten. It is the procedure on that boy that is being investigated as assault. Prosecutor Emma Haals in Uppsala handed the case on Wednesday to a prosecutor in Ă–rebro who handles healthcare cases, to examine whether there were shortcomings in the care the boy received.
Hanna Göthberg at the Örebro prosecutor's office said she was familiarising herself with the investigation and did not want to comment.
Wallin criticised the reporting, saying initial information about genital mutilation was "completely taken out of thin air" and "entirely incorrect. "My client is surprised and astonished. Nothing problematic happened.
He was not in pain and nothing went wrong," Wallin said. "Nothing has gone wrong according to my client."