Professor Cyril Karabus has been found not guilty by a court in the UAE - but prosecutors have 30 days to launch a new appeal.
|||Cape Town - Professor Cyril Karabus may have been found not guilty by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Wednesday, but prosecutors now have another 30 days in which to launch a new appeal after their previous attempts failed.
And on Wednesday night, a South African government official cautioned the public and media against speculating when Karabus, who has been in Abu Dhabi for 251 days since his arrest on August 18, would return home.
“There are currently intense engagements taking place on the iminent return of professor Karabus,” International Relations spokesperson Nelson Kgwete said.
Earlier in the day, it emerged that a UAE judge had decided to turn down the state’s appeal against Karabus’s acquittal last month.
“The South African government has today, April 24, learned of the current developments in the case of Professor Cyril Karabus and calls on the media and the public to refrain from speculating on the outcome of the process.”
Kgwete said the government and the family and friends of Karabus remained “very hopeful” and they would continue to monitor the developments around the case.
The 78-year-old South African paediatric oncologist has been detained in the UAE since August 18, after being sentenced in absentia for the death of a Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002. He was acquitted on March 21, but was not allowed to leave the country pending the appeal.
Karabus’s lawyer, Michael Bagraim, said the doctor was in “a bit of shock” after he heard of the acquittal.
“The doctor is not feeling good. He is in a bit of shock as the decision took him by surprise,” he said. “His health is not that good, so Karabus is lying down after hearing the good news.”
Bagraim said the appeal was heard on Tuesday and the judge indicated the verdict would be on Monday, April 29.
The court phoned the attorneys in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to say the judge reached a decision and wanted to deliver it earlier.
“The judge decided to not grant the state’s appeal and said Karabus is not guilty on all the charges,” Bagraim said.
The prosecution had 30 days to bring a new appeal, he said.
The South African embassy staff in Abu Dhabi regularly visited Karabus and had been in regular contact with the foreign affairs minister of the UAE, Kgwete said.
“The South African government reiterates its call for calm on this matter until the judicial process has been concluded.”
Bagraim said they have approached the prosecution to ask them not to appeal.
“We are now waiting to hear if they are going to exercise their right to a third appeal. His return home is dependent on their decision,” he said. “Once we know we can start the process of applying for the return of his passport.”
Karabus’s son Michael said they were expecting their father to be back in a few days and the family is happy that it’s over.
“We are excited and happy that it came through now, we are glad that the authorities that side are escalating it.”
Michael said that the next step, as he understood it, would be to process the paperwork and get his father home.
Michael said the last nine months without their father was difficult, especially because he missed the birth of his grandchild.
Meanwhile, the Professional Ethics and Standards Committee (PESC) of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand has called for a boycott of all activities associated with the UAE, including the Africa Health Conference, which is set to take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from May 7 to 9.
“The organisers are not academics belonging to academic institutions - this programme is purely a business venture. Many leading South African academics and others from abroad will be participating as presenters or speakers, while several Wits academics will also be participating, said professor Ames Dhai, director of the of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics in the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences.
“With the manner in which Dubai has handled the Karabus case, how can we at Wits and in South Africa support such a conference?” he said.
UCT’s Interim Dean, professor Susan Kidson has also asked members of the university’s Faculty of Health Sciences to withdraw from the conference.
Karabus has devoted his career to the care of children with cancer for more than 35 years, during which time he has earned the respect of colleagues, students, patients and international peers, she said.
Karabus served as a consultant in paediatric haematology-oncology at UCT and as Head of the Paediatric Haematology-Oncology unit for more than 20 years.
* Additional reporting by Yolisa Tswanya
Cape Argus