Durban dentist Anwar Mohamed Jeewa, convicted of culpable homicide for the death of Canadian Milos Martinovic – who died at his unregistered detox centre after being given controversial ibogaine treatment – has narrowly escaped imprisonment.
Instead, he was sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision, and also ordered by KZN High Court (Durban) Judge Rashid Vahed to spent 25 hours every month fixing inmates’ teeth at Westville Prisons.
TimesLIVE reports that he was also given a fine of R50 000 (or five years’ imprisonment in default) for five “statutory counts” for the unlawful manufacture, compounding, selling and dispensing of ibogaine, a schedule 6 substance.
Another fine of R5 000 for running his unregistered clinic, Minds Alive, in Westville, was wholly suspended.
Prosecutor Nadira Moosa argued for direct imprisonment, saying father-of-one Martinovic had died a lonely death. She said people needed to know treatment facilities, which were desperately needed, were safe.
Vahed said correctional supervision was not a light sentence.
“Hopefully when it is considered after mature reflection … it will be regarded as one which has been imposed to punish the accused and populist baying for direct imprisonment will be abandoned,” he said.
Martinovic had checked into the clinic in November 2017 hoping Jeewa could cure him from his addiction to opiates and benzodiazepines. Jeewa had advertised on social media as a “specialist” with extensive knowledge of ibogaine therapy, but two days later, his patient died from cardiac arrest after being allowed to continue self-medicating with Xanax while on the ibogaine treatment.
Vahed found that Jeewa had been negligent, that the patient had also not been properly monitored by a qualified nurses, and that there were no emergency procedure facilities in place.
He said Martinovic’s death was entirely avoidable, and that Department of Health and social development officials had repeatedly warned Jeewa to shut down the clinic, “but he ignored these admonitions”.
He said the state officials could also be blamed for doing nothing except issuing “empty warnings” instead of shutting it down.
Although Jeewa apologised for his patient’s death, Vahed said he was not convinced the dentist was truly remorseful.
TimesLIVE article – Jeewa to fix prisoners’ teeth as part of his punishment (Restricted access)
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