Maravi

Dr Makasa defends his stand on police killing of suspected bandits

Dr Makasa defends his stand on police killing of suspected bandits
By Nomusa Michelo
Wednesday June 20, 2007 [04:00]

UNIVERSITY Teaching Hospital (UTH) doctor Emmanuel Makasa has defended his disgust over the manner in which police killed four suspected bandits in Lusaka on Monday. Dr Makasa was on Monday arrested by police for expressing disgust at the manner in which the bandits were killed. In an interview yesterday, Dr Makasa said as a medical professional, his duty is to defend life regardless of whose life it is.

“My job is to save life, any life, whether it is a politician, a criminal, a police officer or any ordinary person. That is what I was trained to do,” he said. “What I saw was not pleasant. I was not happy and yes what I said offended the police especially that I said it when there were a lot of people there. I understand their point but they also know that I have a job to save life and not to kill.”

Meanwhile, police have verbally cautioned Dr Makasa over his utterances. Dr Makasa confirmed that police picked him up after he made some utterances that annoyed them.

“They took me to central police and force headquarters and we just talked. I explained to them why I reacted like that and they also told me why they got annoyed. I understood them and they understood me,” he said.

“We had a chat and we resolved the matter professionally. They just cautioned me about what I said especially that it was in a public place with a lot of people. Just because I was not happy about the way those men were killed doesn’t mean that I support what they do.”

Dr Makasa is an orthopaedic surgeon and has worked with the UTH for seven years.
Meanwhile, six people were taken to UTH after the minibus they were travelling in hit into another vehicle on the Kafue road yesterday morning. The three men and three women, one of whom is expecting, were taken to the UTH by police officers coming from Lilayi who witnessed the accident.

Labels: POLICE, UTH

posted by MrK @ 3:22 AM