ANT KATZ

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“Murderer, murderer! You are under arrest.” The shock of being arrested at Dubai Airport was almost too much for the ailing 77-year-old Professor Cyril Karabus, a world-renowned paediatric oncologist en route home to Cape Town with his wife and family after attending his son’s wedding in Toronto.

Without his knowledge, Prof Karabus had been tried in absentia in 2004 in Abu Dhabi and found guilty of manslaughter after the death of a three-year-old Yemeni girl who had died from acute myeloblastic leukaemia. Prof Karabus had served a locum in the United Arab Emirates in 2002 when this death occurred.

Charges were trumped up against him by the child’s father, who demanded blood money – which, according to Sharia law, is only payable after a criminal conviction – despite the fact that the girl was not even Prof Karabus’s patient. This is the engrossing story of Cyril Karabus’s fight to prove his innocence and secure his release from jail in the UAE, where he was confined for nine months. It also lifts the lid on all the extraordinary behind-the-scenes attempts and manoeuvres to free the doctor.

The “Free Professor Karabus” campaign was led by the Cape Town lawyer Michael Bagraim and was embraced by the medical community. This involved boycotts of Dubai-based medical conferences, public protests, website petitions and fundraisers to help meet the professor’s legal expenses. The South African and World Medical Associations both plunged headlong into the fight on his behalf, as did the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation, which sent its deputy minister to try to secure his release.

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READ HOW SAJR HELPED RAISE KARABUS’S LEGAL FEES

As the book reveals, it was a leading South African businessman and former student of Professor Karabus at the University of Cape Town, who emerged as the knight in shining armour. Using his connections to the Abu Dhabi royal family, he made two trips to the Emirates on Prof Karabus’s behalf and in the end his efforts proved successful.

About the author

Suzanne Belling, who was born in the UK and now lives in Johannesburg, also co-wrote The Travelling Rabbi: My African Tribe (Jacana) about Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft – the popular SA Country Communities’ – and African Jewish Council’s – spiritual head. That book has become a worldwide best-seller.

Belling is a seasoned journalist who has been editor of several newspapers, managing editor of the SA Jewish Times and co-editor of SA Jewish Report.