Cyril Karabus will not return home because UAE authorities intend appealing the ruling which cleared him of manslaughter.
|||Cape Town - Professor Cyril Karabus will not return to South Africa this weekend as planned, because United Arab Emirates authorities intend appealing the court ruling which cleared him of manslaughter, the department of international relations said on Thursday.
“We have been notified that there is an intention to appeal the court’s decision. Legally speaking he won't be able to leave the country (until this process is completed),” said departmental spokesman Clayson Monyela.
He confirmed that the UAE authorities would keep Karabus's passport pending the outcome of the appeal.
Last Thursday, a UAE court acquitted Karabus of manslaughter and of falsifying documents after the death of a three-year-old Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002.
The next day it was reported that Karabus would have to wait before returning home, as the prosecution in the UAE had 14 days to appeal the ruling.
Karabus, who is an emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town and a specialist paediatric oncologist, was charged and sentenced in absentia.
On August 18, he was arrested in Dubai while in transit to South Africa from Toronto, Canada, where he had attended his son's wedding.
On Friday, Karabus said in a statement that he looked forward to returning to South Africa and celebrating his birthday, on Monday, with his family in Cape Town.
Monyela said that the appeal was a legal process to which Karabus would have to submit.
“The appeal does not change the fact that (a UAE) medical review committee has absolved him of any responsibility for the death.”
He said Karabus and his family were being given consular assistance. - Sapa