It would appear that United Arab Emirates prosecution authorities will stop at nothing to keep South African paediatrician Cyril Karabus, who has been cleared of manslaughter and fraud charges, in that country.
Karabus was supposed to be on a flight home today, but the authorities failed to hand back his passport yesterday. His Cape Town lawyer, Michael Bagraim, said no explanation was given.
"I have told [him] to go to the attorneys at seven o'clock tomorrow morning and camp outside their offices and to go with them to court to try to get [the passport]. They will have to physically go down there and fetch it," said Bagraim.
"We were told on Sunday that he was free to travel. Today we tried to get the passport but it didn't happen."
Police arrested the 78-year-old at Dubai International Airport in August while in transit to South Africa after attending his son's wedding in Canada.
His arrest followed an operation he performed on a three-year-old cancer patient while he was a locum at Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre in Abu Dhabi in 2002.
The patient died of leukaemia. Unknown to him, he was tried and found guilty of fraud and manslaughter in 2003.
Last month, he was acquitted of all charges but he could not leave that country after the prosecution appealed.
After a brief appearance last week, he was supposed to appear in court yesterday.
But the prosecution informed his lawyers that the court had rejected the appeal without a formal sitting.
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