OTTAWA — The government will ask Saudi Arabia for clemency in the case of a 23-year-old Canadian who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by beheading.
Neil Hrab, a spokesman for the foreign affairs minister, Maxime Bernier, confirmed the government’s decision on Wednesday and added that Canada would help the family of the Canadian, Mohamed Kohail, to appeal his case.
Mr. Kohail was born in Saudi Arabia but moved with his family to Montreal as a teenager. In January 2007, while the Kohail family was temporarily living in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Kohail became involved in a brawl at a school his younger brother attended. He was charged with killing a teenager during the fight, and a court in Jidda convicted him.
Canada does not have a death penalty, but its current Conservative government recently abandoned a longstanding policy of automatically coming to the aid of all Canadians sentenced to death, including those jailed in the United States.
Source : The New York Times
Neil Hrab, a spokesman for the foreign affairs minister, Maxime Bernier, confirmed the government’s decision on Wednesday and added that Canada would help the family of the Canadian, Mohamed Kohail, to appeal his case.
Mr. Kohail was born in Saudi Arabia but moved with his family to Montreal as a teenager. In January 2007, while the Kohail family was temporarily living in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Kohail became involved in a brawl at a school his younger brother attended. He was charged with killing a teenager during the fight, and a court in Jidda convicted him.
Canada does not have a death penalty, but its current Conservative government recently abandoned a longstanding policy of automatically coming to the aid of all Canadians sentenced to death, including those jailed in the United States.
Source : The New York Times
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