Court delay keeps Karabus stuck in UAE

10 April 2013 - 02:25 By NASHIRA DAVIDS
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Professor Cyril Karabus has been dealt another blow - he will have to stay in the United Arab Emirates for another two weeks.

The retired paediatrician was acquitted on charges of manslaughter and fraud last month but the prosecution has decided to appeal.

Yesterday, his lawyer Michael Bagraim said Karabus appeared in an Abu Dhabi court. They had expected the court to conclude that the prosecution has no grounds to appeal.

"But the case was postponed to April 23. This has given him an incredible knock. He thought the matter would be finalised. He is very depressed,'' said Bagraim.

Bagraim said the judge in the matter requested that the "medical translator" should be present during proceedings. The translator is tasked with interpreting the medical files.

In August, police arrested Karabus at Dubai International Airport while he was in transit to South Africa.

In 2002, he operated on a three-year-old cancer patient while he was a locum at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre. The patient died of leukaemia and he was tried and found guilty of manslaughter and fraud in absentia in 2003.

On Human Rights Day, he was found not guilty but could not leave the country because the prosecution decided to appeal.

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