South African doctor accused of manslaughter acquitted

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court acquitted today Dr Cyril Karabus, a South African, from the charges of manslaughter, over the death of the three-year-old girl, who had suffered from cancer and died at Khalifa Hospital in Abu Dhabi in 2002. Dr Karabus, who treated the deceased girl, also faced the charges of forgery for allegedly falsifying the official document. The defendant was tried in absentia and sentenced in 2004 to three years imprisonment and one year for forgery. He was also ordered to pay the blood money of the victim. The court cited in its acquittal ruling that the report of the higher committee for medical liability stated that it did not find any evidence of negligence in the medical report of the deceased. It said that the first ruling was based on the forensic report, which was devoid of proof that the death occurred due to the brain haemorrhage resulting from non-transfer of the victim's blood platelets in time. No autopsy was conducted after the death of the child. Regarding the forgery charges, the court explained that the criminal report on which the court built upon its condemnation ruling, was in the absence of the defendant. It added that the phrase inserted in the report was written with the same handwriting of same person without disclosing who this person is, and therefore, the court rejected the report and exonerated the defendant.