Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following article from Arab News, written by Md Rasooldeen.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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An article from Arab News forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS
Published: Apr 6, 2011 23:21 Updated: Apr 6, 2011 23:21
RIYADH: The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has made an appeal to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah pleading for a pardon to the Sri Lankan woman Rizana Nafeek, who was sentenced to death after she was convicted of murdering a four-month-old infant in 2005.
“We are making this appeal on behalf of the parents of the convicted maid, who had become a victim of circumstances,” AHRC Executive Director Basil Fernando told Arab News over the phone.
Muhammad Nafeek, the woman’s father, said the family has not had any communication with Rizana in months.
Fernando said the organization respects the rules and regulations of the host country. However, he added that this is a case where the parents of the deceased infant could give her clemency on humanitarian grounds.
“The maid who did not have a basic experience in carrying out a nanny’s job, had spent only less than three months in the Kingdom when the incident occurred, ” he said, stressing there was no reason for her to kill a baby.
The Saudi family says Rizana murdered the newborn. Rizana says the newborn choked to death during bottle-feeding and that she tried to seek help.
The AHRC says Rizana never had a fair trial and that there is no forensic evidence supporting the claim she murdered the infant. The organization says the maid’s alleged confession is invalid because she only spoke Tamil and was interrogated in Arabic, and that the allegation that a translator was present was never proven as no translator was ever presented to the court. The confession was the crucial piece of evidence used to sentence her to execution.
The organization also pointed out that up to the initial guilty ruling, Rizana has no legal representation. The AHRC, along with Sri Lankan philanthropic support, later provided legal representation that led to an appeal, which resulted in upholding the initial death penalty ruling based on the confession.
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