How a British doctor
shielded mercenaries
|
The following day soldiers took the men from the hospital, although Dr. Fosbery said they were too ill to leave.
Mr. Brooks had a bullet wound in the thigh and Mr. Carey several broken ribs after being beaten with rifle butts. Mr. Brooks had also been beaten and had a black eye.
Allegations of torture were made during the trial of the six mercenaries in Victoria this week. Most face the death penalty for alleged treason.
Dr. Fosbery�s medical reports on Mr. Brooks and Mr. Carey were handed into the court in a plea of mitigation by former Scots Solicitor-General Mr. Nicholas Fairbairn.
I spoke to Dr. Fosbery aboard his boat �Jaho�, a Tahiti Ketch moored in Victoria Bay which has been his home for the last two years.
This week he returned to England after fulfilling a 30 month contract as a surgeon for the Seychelles Government.
Recalling the hospital incident he said: �The situation was critical. Tensions were running high. It was only a few days after the attack on the airport and the faces of the Tanzanian soldiers were full of hate. �It was a Sunday night. Before I went off duty I checked on the two patients who were kept in a separate ward under guard.�
The Guards had handcuffed the two to their beds, but Dr. Fosbery had insisted that they leave the men at least one hand free.
Later Dr. Fosbery received a phone call from the ward nurse, who said the two men wanted to see him immediately.
The soldiers guarding the two men had been joined by others. They had told the nurses on duty to leave the ward and said: �When you hear shooting keep your heads down.�
Dr. Fosbery said: �I could feel the tension as I walked in.�
He demanded of the officer in charge why the men had been shackled again.
�I said they were ill and needed treatment.
�The officer did not reply and Carey shook his head, saying �They�re not going to take any notice, doctor, they�ve decided they are going to shoot us�.�
Dr. Fosbery simply stepped in front of the beds, opened his arms wide, and told the soldiers they would have to shoot him first.
The officer hesitated. The soldiers lowered their rifles but demanded they take the mercenaries away.
Dr. Fosbery
|
|