Pretoria – The South African government has welcomed the decision today by the Interior Ministry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to issue the letter that will enable the UAE Immigration Authorities to grant the necessary permission for Professor Cyril Karabus to depart the UAE.
Karabus’s passport was also handed over to the South African Embassy at noon today.
The South African Embassy in the UAE will tomorrow morning assist Karabus to obtain the exit visa from the UAE, in view of the fact that the relevant office in the UAE was already closed at the time of receiving his passport.
Karabus will also be assisted in making his travel arrangements to return to South Africa within the next 36-48 hours.
“The South African government is glad that the ordeal that Prof Karabus has suffered during the last few months is nearing its end, and [we] look forward to welcoming him back in South Africa,” said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on Tuesday.
International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said earlier today that a note received from the UAE authorities on Monday gave indications that the retired doctor had been cleared of all his charges, and that his release would be secured this week.
At a press conference, he told journalists that he expected Karabus to get his passport back from Abu Dhabi authorities on Wednesday, 15 May.
Karabus has been in detention in the UAE since August last year after being sentenced in absentia for charges of manslaughter and fraud.
Despite being cleared, his release was delayed because his name remained on the UAE’s database as a fugitive from justice.
He was arrested in relation to an operation he performed on a three-year-old cancer patient at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, in 2002. The patient died of leukaemia.
He was acquitted on 21 March 2013 and won an appeal against his acquittal. His bail money of R250 000 was returned to him on Monday, but he still had to wait for his passport from Abu Dhabi prison authorities. - SAnews.gov.za
