WORLD: AHRC thanks those who have contributed to raise the legal fees the appeal of Rizana Nafeek
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-027-2007
WORLD: AHRC thanks those who have contributed to raise the legal fees the appeal of Rizana Nafeek
(Hong Kong, July 23, 2007)
The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to announce that the money needed for the legal fees have now been received and wishes to thank all contributors, as well as those who took an active part in canvassing of support for this case.
The required sum of US$ 40,000 was received within a very short time from a number of concerned organisations and persons. The AHRC sees in this spontaneous reaction of concerned persons, an international understanding of the gravity of the problems involved in this case, as well as an active opposition to the continued use of the death sentence as a punishment, in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
The appeal on behalf of Rizana Nafeek has also received overwhelming response and the AHRC further calls upon everyone to continue with their efforts to make appeals, both to the government of Saudi Arabia and to the family of the deceased child for clemency. The references to appeals are given below.
The AHRC has also appealed to the Muslim scholars on the issues involved in this case and we are confident that there will be serious reflections on these issues. For the issues raised please see: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/1122/
We take this opportunity to particularly thank the Honourable Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia, Mr. A.M.J. Sadiq, for the very proactive role he has played in securing legal assistance in this case and his attempts to secure freedom for the Sri Lankan teenaged facing this problem. We have written to the Sri Lankan government on this issue and you may kindly see this Open Letter at: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/1127/
The AHRC will keep the global community updated on the developments in this case.
For information on this appeal:
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2007statements/1116/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2007/2477/
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE230262007
http://www.petitiononline.com/rizana1/
WORLD: AHRC makes the initial deposit of the legal fees for the appeal of Rizana Nafeek against the death sentence in Saudi Arabia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-025-2007
WORLD: AHRC makes the initial deposit of the legal fees for the appeal of Rizana Nafeek against the death sentence in Saudi Arabia
(Hong Kong, July 11, 2007)
“As the deadline for the filing of the appeal, which is July 16, is approaching rapidly, and as the Sri Lankan government has not lived up to its obligation of defending the rights of its citizens to a fair trial by providing funds for the appeal, the Asian Human Rights Commission has deposited the initial legal fees for the filing of the appeal, which is Rs. 1.5 Million, the equivalent of Saudi Riyals (SAR) 50,000 with the firm of Kateb Fahad Al-Shammari, Attorneys at Law. We hope that this firm can now proceed to file the papers before the deadline,” stated Mr. Basil Fernando, Executive Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Fernando further stated that the AHRC is doing this on behalf of the many groups and persons who have taken an active interest in this appeal and who want to assist.
He further stated that payments were made after receiving a letter from the Honourable Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which stated as follows:
“I refer to the letter from AHRC dated 9th July on the above subject.
I forwarded the letter immediately to the Foreign Ministry in Colombo and sought their advice. The Ministry has informed that there is no objection to the AHRC undertaking the legal expenses to file the judicial appeal on behalf of Sri Lankan national Rizana Nafeek, who has been sentenced to death by the Dawadami High Court last month. The Ministry has further instructed this Mission to facilitate this endeavour.”
Fernando further said that although this action was taken in order to prevent the desperate situation that might arise in the event of the non filing of the appeal, the failure of the Sri Lankan government to live up to its obligations towards the basic protection of its migrant workers in the Middle East and elsewhere, needs to be questioned and the government should be pressurised into changing its policy relating to such protection.
Fernando went on to say that it is tremendously depressing and counterproductive to read some of the statements attributed to ministers of the government and published in several Sri Lankan newspapers. Some of these statements have referred to the payment of blood money for the family of the deceased infant. In fact, at no stage has there been any request from this family for any such payment. These statements regarding blood money are not based on fact and are pure fabrications. In fact, such statements can be extremely counterproductive to the appeals made by thousands of persons from around the world to this family to grant pardon to the teenager on compassionate grounds. A large number of appeals have been sent to the Sri Lankan embassy in Riyadh to be presented to the family. An appeal has also been made to the Muslim scholars across the globe to make their intervention in this case on the basis of compassionate understanding.
The Asian Human Rights Commission encourages everyone to participate in the campaign against the death sentence of Rizana Nafeek.
For further details please follow these links:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2006/2477/
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/1111/
SRI LANKA: Government has not approved payment of legal fees for the appeal of Rizana Naffeek facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-024-2007
SRI LANKA: Government has not approved payment of legal fees for the appeal of Rizana Naffeek facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia
(Hong Kong, July 9, 2007)
The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to the Sri Lankan ambassador in Saudi Arabia requesting him to urge the Sri Lankan government to make payment for the filing of the appeal on behalf of Rizana Naffeek, the deadline for which is July 16, 2007.
Moon Jeong Ho, programme coordinator of the Urgent Appeals programme of the Asian Human Rights Commission stated, “There is ground for concern as the deadline for filing the appeal is approaching. The Sri Lankan government has not made a decision to pay the legal costs, nor has it replied to others who have volunteered to help in this matter. Given the past experience of four other Sri Lankan who faced the death sentence in Saudi Arabia without any legal assistance being given to them, there is good reason for worry.”
The AHRC in its letter mentioned that in the Sri Lankan embassy’s Media Release it is stated that:
“….the amount of the fees demanded by the Saudi Arabian legal firm as SAR 150,000 (US$ 40,000). While you have demanded an extension of the deadline for the filing of the appeal from the date of your embassy receiving all relevant documents for the appeal form the Saudi court, the legally due date for filing remains as July 16. Since there has not yet been an official confirmation of any extension, legally speaking the possibility of carrying out the execution, if the appeal is not filed on July 16, remains. As such a more cautious approach would be to request the legal firm, which is to handle this appeal, also to undertake the obtaining of papers and doing whatever is needed to get an extension through the courts. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo has not yet clarified the matter regarding the payment of the legal fees of the firm by the government. There have been some media reports in Sri Lanka in which some ministers have stated that the government is still considering the matter. Even despite of the approaching deadline there has not been any attempt on the part of the Sri Lankan government to deal with this matter.”
The letter further states that despite of communications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take steps to enable others who have volunteered to help with finances, no response has been received the ministry in Colombo.
“We therefore urge your embassy to settle this matter with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to let us know if you will request for financial assistance from other sources. I am giving you the assurance that, on receipt of confirmation of this matter, the AHRC will deposit the initial sum of SAR 50,000 in favour of the legal firm so that they can begin their work forthwith.”
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
Posted on 2007-07-09
Back to [2007 AHRC Press Releases]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment