Publication: Cape Argus Issued: Date: 2009-03-08 Reporter: Jeremy Gordin

My Brother is a Dead Man Walking, says Yunis Shaik

 

Publication 

Cape Argus
Date

2009-03-08
Reporter Jeremy Gordin

Web Link

www.capeargus.co.za



Schabir Shaik, 52, is a "dead man walking".

Yunis , Shaik's brother, said *1: "I use this phrase because Schabir's heart is enlarged, his kidneys and brain have been badly affected, and he has lost about 50 percent of his sight. In other words, there has been progressive organ damage.

"There are no drugs that can reverse that kind of damage. It's irreversible. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see how very ill Schabir is and to realise how precipitous his situation is, and that we are going to have to provide medical care for Schabir at home," he said.

After receiving a call from Zuleika, Shaik's wife, late on Monday afternoon, Yunis Shaik flew from Johannesburg to Durban to be with his brother when he was returned to his Durban home from the Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospital early on Tuesday.

"But Schabir was heavily sedated, as he is most of the time, because he's extremely ill and so, no, it was not possible for me to have any kind of 'serious discussion' with him," said Yunis. "My understanding is that my brother is in what doctors call the 'final stage' of a physical shutdown."

Yunis said Shaik's medical problems were obviously of the same sort as they were last August when he and his brother, Moe, made a plea for the release of Shaik on correctional supervision at home or "some kind of parole" - and that Shaik's condition had deteriorated drastically over the past seven months.

"It was clear last year that Schabir suffered from a genetic affliction of the vascular system, from which both my mother and father died young, which results in severe uncontrollable hypertension (high blood pressure).

"This can be treated with drugs, and was treated, but the problem is that the body grows progressively less responsive to the medication and then organ damage begins. And that is what happened," said Yunis.

"Deterioration really set in in January. Schabir apparently has had more infarctions (the death of tissue areas in an organ due to inadequate blood supply) and the medication was not stopping these," said Yunis.

The decision by the parole board to release Shaik on medical parole came as a shock to family members, although some of them knew that parole board deliberations took place last week.

As a result of the board meetings, some 30 prisoners were released on medical parole.

Yunis said the family was therefore "appalled and disgusted" by the "malicious and vindictive feeding frenzy" unleashed by some media, some politicians and commentators when Shaik was released on medical parole after serving two years and four months of a 15-year prison term.

"It was not our decision to release Schabir. It was the parole board's. And it was a legitimate decision made by an independent legal body.

"Why is it called 'respect for the rule of law' when Schabir is found guilty and sent to jail *2, but there is no respect for 'the rule of law' when the parole board makes a decision? *3" he asked. I smell the putrid stench of a double standard here *4."

Shaik, erstwhile financial adviser to Jacob Zuma, the ANC president, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 for fraud and corruption.

With acknowledgements to Jeremy Gordin and Cape Argus.


Yunis Shaik's brother has to act like a dead man walking, says Richard Young.

Otherwise he and his charlatan doctors will go to prison for fraud.


*2      The reason, Legal Arsehole, is that the High Court gave its judgment after six months of public, open trial using an adversarial system of evidence, examination and cross-examination. The judgment and the entire trial record were reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals which upheld the judgment and sentences. This was later upheld by the Constitutional Court.


*3      The reason, Legal Arsehole, is that the Local Parole Board held its "review" in secret.

It used, or says it used, reports from Shaik's own medical practitioners to find that he was ill enough for them to grant him medical parole, contrary to the law which says that the prisoner must be dying, for that's is the only reasonable interpretation of terminally-ill.

There is every reason for a convicted liar, briber and fraudster to lie to get out of prison early.

There is every reason to believe that it is highly plausible, no highly probable, that a convicted liar, briber and fraudster would bribe medical practitioner to provide false reports.

There is every reason to believe that it is highly plausible, no highly probable, that the convicted liar's, briber's and fraudster's political principal and co-conspirator would give orders to do whatever was possible to get him out of jail as early as possible.

This is not due process, it is fraud.


*4      I smell the putrid stench of no standards at all here.


But isn't it just luverly, luverly, luverly to read another article from the Shaik/Zuma/Naidu embedded journalist.