news article: Family in shock over Canadian's Saudi death sentence
The Canadian sent me a link to some articles about a Canadian man who is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia.
Aside from the fact that I am against the death penalty, the situation has been very thought-provoking for a number of reasons.
TheStar.com: Family in shock over Canadian's Saudi death sentence
Mar 04, 2008 08:21 PM, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL-The father of a Montreal man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia was sure his son was going to avoid execution, or perhaps even get out of jail altogether.
Ali Kohail had reason to be optimistic leading up to the court hearing Monday where his son Mohamed Kohail, 23, was convicted of murder for a schoolyard brawl gone awry.
Days before the sentencing, Ali Kohail told Montreal friend Maurice Mansour that a Canadian embassy official in Saudi Arabia had told him his son would soon be set free.
"Four days before the verdict, the father told me an embassy member called him and told him his son would be released from prison soon," Mansour said Tuesday.
"They said he'd be home in a few days."
Ali Kohail told Mansour that when the opposite happened, he was in shock.
A Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman couldn't confirm the call had taken place, citing privacy issues.
Ali Kohail told Mahmoud Al-Ken, a reporter from a Montreal Arabic radio station, that the judge in his son's case had told lawyers his son was unlikely to face death.
Mohamed Kohail, 23, faces a public beheading by sword, but has 30 days to appeal according to the written ruling issued by a Saudi Arabian court on Monday.
Mansour, who is in daily contact with the family and is house-sitting their Montreal home, says the family plans to exercise all appeals available to them. But they are not hopeful.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in an email late Tuesday that the Canadian government would seek clemency for Kohail, but had no details about when the request would be made.
Earlier Tuesday, Bernier said the government is prepared to help the family with an appeal.
"We're very disappointed in the trial decision in that case," Bernier said during question period in Ottawa on Tuesday.
"The prime minister, the secretary of state and myself have discussed the situation with the Saudi authorities and we're prepared to help the family so that they can appeal that decision and we hope that ultimately the verdict will be changed."
Mohamed Kohail and his brother Sultan, who turns 17 this week, were involved in a schoolyard brawl that left one person dead.
The two boys were involved in a fight that broke out after a girl's male cousin accused Sultan of insulting her.
According to the account of the Kohail brothers, Mohamed Kohail arrived at the school with a male friend to face about a dozen of the girl's male relatives and friends. Some were armed with clubs and knives.
The man who died in the fight was Munzer Haraki, 19, a cousin of the girl who was supposedly insulted.
A family friend who spoke with Kohail's parents shortly after the verdict was handed down says they are livid at the Saudi justice system and that Mohamed didn't get a fair trial.
Al-Ken says the half-page Arabic court ruling he saw Tuesday acknowledges there is disagreement on how Haraki's injuries occurred.
The verdict also indicated the death was caused by internal bleeding complicated by a weakened heart.
In the brief ruling, the judge questioned why Mohamed and his friend and co-accused, Muhanna Masoud, 21, didn't simply flee the scene.
It was the boys' mother who initially read the verdict back to Al-Ken in clipped tones, trying to stifle sobs as she read that her son was to be beheaded.
"It was horrible to listen to her," Al-Ken said.
Sultan could also face death but is currently free on bail pending the outcome of his own case.
Amnesty International Canada says it is disappointed with the outcome of the trial, but not surprised.
"Sadly it does not come as a surprise because this is very much the nature of justice in Saudi Arabia," said Alex Neve, adding unfair trials shrouded in secrecy are commonplace.
Being a foreign national doesn't help much in the Saudi justice system, Neve said.
Canada has backed itself into a corner because of a recent decision not to seek clemency involving Alberta-born Ronald Smith in a death penalty case in the United States, Neve said.
For years, Canada's standard practice was to lobby foreign governments for mercy for Canadians when they faced the death penalty.
The Conservatives said they would not routinely ask for clemency in cases where people are convicted in fair trials in democratic countries.
That policy makes Saudi Arabia look like one of the undemocratic ``bad guys" if Canada lobbies for mercy for Kohail, says Neve.
Opposition MPs argued the decision amounted to support for capital punishment.
"This government is slowly but surely heading toward its concept of re-establishing the death penalty," Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said in Ottawa.
"They're not a majority government - and thank goodness for that. Otherwise, that would be their way of settling the matter."
*
Similar sorts of outcries happened in Australia previously, but I find it interesting that the Canadian government is assailed on all sides:
"Opposition MPs argued the decision amounted to support for capital punishment."
That was pretty much said in Australia, too.
And this:
"This government is slowly but surely heading toward its concept of re-establishing the death penalty," Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said in Ottawa.
Gotta love how the politicans always find a way to seize the advantage.
I also find it interesting how the Canadian government chose not to seek clemency in a US death penalty case so are now in a bit of a bind :P At least the Australian government is relatively consistent - although presumably not that many Aussies end up on death row in the States so they haven't had to take on a politically embarrassing situation yet. It's always easy to attack 'barbaric' non-Western countries, but of course Australia would never want to officially attack the US for its death penalty policy. Hmmm.
Also, this isn't a post to debate the death penalty. Just posting an article of interest...
Aside from the fact that I am against the death penalty, the situation has been very thought-provoking for a number of reasons.
TheStar.com: Family in shock over Canadian's Saudi death sentence
Mar 04, 2008 08:21 PM, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL-The father of a Montreal man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia was sure his son was going to avoid execution, or perhaps even get out of jail altogether.
Ali Kohail had reason to be optimistic leading up to the court hearing Monday where his son Mohamed Kohail, 23, was convicted of murder for a schoolyard brawl gone awry.
Days before the sentencing, Ali Kohail told Montreal friend Maurice Mansour that a Canadian embassy official in Saudi Arabia had told him his son would soon be set free.
"Four days before the verdict, the father told me an embassy member called him and told him his son would be released from prison soon," Mansour said Tuesday.
"They said he'd be home in a few days."
Ali Kohail told Mansour that when the opposite happened, he was in shock.
A Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman couldn't confirm the call had taken place, citing privacy issues.
Ali Kohail told Mahmoud Al-Ken, a reporter from a Montreal Arabic radio station, that the judge in his son's case had told lawyers his son was unlikely to face death.
Mohamed Kohail, 23, faces a public beheading by sword, but has 30 days to appeal according to the written ruling issued by a Saudi Arabian court on Monday.
Mansour, who is in daily contact with the family and is house-sitting their Montreal home, says the family plans to exercise all appeals available to them. But they are not hopeful.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in an email late Tuesday that the Canadian government would seek clemency for Kohail, but had no details about when the request would be made.
Earlier Tuesday, Bernier said the government is prepared to help the family with an appeal.
"We're very disappointed in the trial decision in that case," Bernier said during question period in Ottawa on Tuesday.
"The prime minister, the secretary of state and myself have discussed the situation with the Saudi authorities and we're prepared to help the family so that they can appeal that decision and we hope that ultimately the verdict will be changed."
Mohamed Kohail and his brother Sultan, who turns 17 this week, were involved in a schoolyard brawl that left one person dead.
The two boys were involved in a fight that broke out after a girl's male cousin accused Sultan of insulting her.
According to the account of the Kohail brothers, Mohamed Kohail arrived at the school with a male friend to face about a dozen of the girl's male relatives and friends. Some were armed with clubs and knives.
The man who died in the fight was Munzer Haraki, 19, a cousin of the girl who was supposedly insulted.
A family friend who spoke with Kohail's parents shortly after the verdict was handed down says they are livid at the Saudi justice system and that Mohamed didn't get a fair trial.
Al-Ken says the half-page Arabic court ruling he saw Tuesday acknowledges there is disagreement on how Haraki's injuries occurred.
The verdict also indicated the death was caused by internal bleeding complicated by a weakened heart.
In the brief ruling, the judge questioned why Mohamed and his friend and co-accused, Muhanna Masoud, 21, didn't simply flee the scene.
It was the boys' mother who initially read the verdict back to Al-Ken in clipped tones, trying to stifle sobs as she read that her son was to be beheaded.
"It was horrible to listen to her," Al-Ken said.
Sultan could also face death but is currently free on bail pending the outcome of his own case.
Amnesty International Canada says it is disappointed with the outcome of the trial, but not surprised.
"Sadly it does not come as a surprise because this is very much the nature of justice in Saudi Arabia," said Alex Neve, adding unfair trials shrouded in secrecy are commonplace.
Being a foreign national doesn't help much in the Saudi justice system, Neve said.
Canada has backed itself into a corner because of a recent decision not to seek clemency involving Alberta-born Ronald Smith in a death penalty case in the United States, Neve said.
For years, Canada's standard practice was to lobby foreign governments for mercy for Canadians when they faced the death penalty.
The Conservatives said they would not routinely ask for clemency in cases where people are convicted in fair trials in democratic countries.
That policy makes Saudi Arabia look like one of the undemocratic ``bad guys" if Canada lobbies for mercy for Kohail, says Neve.
Opposition MPs argued the decision amounted to support for capital punishment.
"This government is slowly but surely heading toward its concept of re-establishing the death penalty," Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said in Ottawa.
"They're not a majority government - and thank goodness for that. Otherwise, that would be their way of settling the matter."
*
Similar sorts of outcries happened in Australia previously, but I find it interesting that the Canadian government is assailed on all sides:
"Opposition MPs argued the decision amounted to support for capital punishment."
That was pretty much said in Australia, too.
And this:
"This government is slowly but surely heading toward its concept of re-establishing the death penalty," Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said in Ottawa.
Gotta love how the politicans always find a way to seize the advantage.
I also find it interesting how the Canadian government chose not to seek clemency in a US death penalty case so are now in a bit of a bind :P At least the Australian government is relatively consistent - although presumably not that many Aussies end up on death row in the States so they haven't had to take on a politically embarrassing situation yet. It's always easy to attack 'barbaric' non-Western countries, but of course Australia would never want to officially attack the US for its death penalty policy. Hmmm.
Also, this isn't a post to debate the death penalty. Just posting an article of interest...