Victims of disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel will protest outside Dundee’s Bell Street police station next month as frustration grows over the investigation into his butchery.
Campaigners will gather outside the force’s Tayside headquarters on May 22 to voice their anger over the slow pace.
Police began investigating rogue ex-Ninewells doctor Eljamel in September 2018, when complaints were first lodged.
The Libyan surgeon had repeatedly harmed patients and has since fled back to his home country.
More than five years on, officers are yet to even establish whether the NHS Tayside neurosurgeon’s behaviour should be deemed criminal.
Officers only escalated the case into a “major investigation” last October after the Scottish Government ordered a public inquiry into the scandal.
The Courier can now reveal this probe is named Operation Stringent.
It is currently being headed up by Detective Inspector Willie Murdoch.
Kinross campaigner Jules Rose, among the first patients to launch a criminal complaint, said this step should have been taken years ago.
She claimed police had been “kicking the can down the road”.
While specialist officers were assigned to investigate Eljamel’s actions, it’s understood they are regularly reassigned when other major cases take priority.
Ms Rose told us she wants a dedicated team.
‘No urgency’
She told us: “For five and a half years, Police Scotland have been kicking the can down the road. There has been no urgency.
“Only when we were granted a public inquiry did they upgrade this to the major investigations team.
“We are no longer prepared to wait any longer.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “This is an extremely complex investigation which is being investigated by specialist officers.
“Enquiries remain ongoing and we continue to work alongside partner agencies.”
Ms Rose added: “If this is an extremely complex investigation, why were specialist officers not appointed from 2018 when we first complained?”
Dundee Labour MSP Michael Marra said: “The planned protest outside Bell Street is another example of the entirely justified anger that surrounds this case and the official response to it.
“There are serious, sustained questions about whether and where any criminal liability lies – an area which the announced public inquiry may be unable to directly respond to.
“Both Police Scotland and the Crown Office therefore have to decide whether to take forward criminal cases.”
Last October we reported police had been waiting for an independent neurosurgeon who was pouring over the files of Eljamel’s patients to produce his report.
His conclusions are expected to be crucial in dictating whether officers can pursue criminal charges against the disgraced medic.
A month earlier we revealed detectives investigating Eljamel fear he will never be extradited from Libya, where he fled years ago.
A police spokesperson added: “We are aware of plans to hold a protest outside Bell Street Police Station.”
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