I think so. She was only a 17 year old girl and most accounts suggest that she was not competent or trained to look after a baby
The Saudi authorities should have pardoned her
Besides I have a great problem with this practice of beheading. These things probably had a place in the 6th century but not anymore imo. That is why we have something called ijtehad in our religion
CNN) – Saudi Arabia on Sunday defended its execution of a Sri Lankan maid for the death of an infant in her care and hit back at international criticism of last week’s beheading.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia categorically rejects any interference in its affairs or in the provisions of its judiciary under any justifications,” a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency read.
Human rights groups and the Sri Lankan government had lobbied for leniency in the case of Rizana Nafeek, who was convicted of killing her employers’ son in 2005. The family said she strangled the boy, Kayed bin Nayef bin Jazyan al-Otaibi, after being asked to bottle-feed him, but Nafeek said the infant accidentally choked on milk. Read more: Outrage over beheading of Sri Lankan woman by Saudi Arabia
She was executed Wednesday amid condemnation by human rights groups, the European Union and the United Nations. But in Sunday’s statement, the Saudis said complaints about her execution “draw on false information about the case and are issued without full knowledge of the circumstances of the case itself.”
The Saudi statement denied allegations by Nafeek’s advocates that she was a minor at the time of the boy’s death. Sri Lanka’s government said she was only 17 at the time. But the Saudi statement said her official passport showed she was 21 when the boy died.
“As it is universally recognized, the passport is an official document issued by her government,” the statement said. “Moreover, the legal regulations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not allow the recruitment of minors.”
Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, which bars the execution of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crime.
The Saudis said Nafeek had “all rights to have a legal defense,” with the Sri Lankan government monitoring the case. And it said Saudi officials “at the highest levels” urged the infant’s family members to agree to clemency or a payment of “blood money” in exchange for sparing Nafeek’s life, but they refused. Opinion: Saudi execution: Brutal, inhuman and illegal?
Nafeek was put to death Wednesday in Dawadmi, a small, dusty town about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Riyadh. Sri Lanka has withdrawn its ambassador to Saudi Arabia in response to the execution, which Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had twice asked Saudi King Abdullah to stop.
“We pointed out to Saudi officials that Rizana came to their country as a housemaid. She was not competent or trained to look after a baby, which she had been assigned to her by her employer,” External Affairs Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama said in a statement released Friday.
Human rights groups said Nafeek did not have access to a lawyer during her pretrial interrogation, during which she said she was assaulted and forced to sign a confession under duress. Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program, said last week that the case shows the Saudis are “woefully out of step … with their international obligations regarding the use of the death penalty.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “dismayed” by the execution, the United Nations said last week.
Amnesty says Saudi Arabia executed at least 79 people in 2012. Of those, 27 were non-Saudis – and most of the foreigners executed in recent years were migrant workers from developing countries, the group said.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid’s execution, hit back at criticism
I don’t know details of the case but was it fully investigated whether baby died of choking on milk (which can very possibly happen) or was he strangled? These are two starkly different events and should’ve been very clearly found out unless doctor was pressured to get the maid indicted (Arab vs non-Arab). But if it was investigated and she was found guilty then there is no point for “pardon”, why have laws if we want everyone to be pardoned?
Laws will look gruesome to you but you should check with families affected by criminals (crimes which warrant beheading), many a times criminals go to “corrective facility” called jails and come out to commit another crime.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
I am not against the death penalty for the most serious crimes but this gruesome practice of beheading. There are other more civilised methods of capital punishment. The West has a valid point when it says that the Saudis are out of step with the modern world
I think this poor girl just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and this was at worst a case of negligence or carelessness. She was not a serial criminal by any stretch of imagination. Commonsense and humanity dictated that they should have pardoned her
I could never live in a closed backward society like Saudi Arabia. I have no time for these extremist, intolerant Wahabis be it Saudis or Taliban animals. They are giving us a bad name everywhere. Sufism or peaceful tolerant Islam is the way to go
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
I am not against the death penalty for the most serious crimes but this gruesome practice of beheading. There are other more civilised methods of capital punishment. The West has a valid point when it says that the Saudis are out of step with the modern world
No offense, but if you take guidance of Islam its jurisprudence by looking at non-Islamic justice systems/society then you are simply abandoning religion (that is if you are a Muslim :D)
I think this poor girl just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and this was at worst a case of negligence or carelessness. She was not a serial criminal by any stretch of imagination. Commonsense and humanity dictated that they should have pardoned her
Again, if the investigations led to the verdict against this girl then it is upto the affected family to pardon, not the government.
Saudi Arabia beheads Sudanese “sorcerer”Saudi Arabia beheaded a Sudanese man by sword in the western city of Medina on Monday after he was convicted of practicing sorcery, the Interior Ministry announced.
Abdul Hamid al-Fakki “practiced witchcraft and sorcery,” which are illegal under Saudi Arabia’s Islamic sharia law, said a ministry statement carried by state news agency SPA.
In October last year, Amnesty International said it had appealed to King Abdullah in a letter to commute Fakki’s death sentence.
His execution brings to 42 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group reports.
In June, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in the number of executions in the previous six weeks.
It said 15 people were executed in May alone.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. -AFP/NOW Lebanon
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid’s execution, hit back at criticism
Saudi Kingdom is not exactly a shining example of humanity or of tolerant & progressive Islam. The very concept of badshahat is against our religion. There is one law for the super rich Arab Sheikhs and another for the common masses. But because the punishments are so harsh and brutal, no one dares to speak out against the Royal Family. One goof replaces another goof. I am not suggesting that we should change the basic tenets of Islam but if you are telling me that there’s nothing we can do about some of these archaic methods of punishment or unnnecessary laws (blasphemy etc.) then sorry I do not agree with you. There should definitely be a debate on such issues. Our religion has become stagnant. Hence I say more power to progressive scholars like TUQ sb. Mind you there were no cars or mobile phones either during Prophet pbuh’s time. so should we all take a horse or camel ride to work? (I know you’re not suggesting that)
And these Arab sheikhs, all they do is indulge in worldly pleasures. Many own casinos, night clubs, football & horse riding clubs etc. around the world. Many drink and gamble & indulge in adultery. Some have 100 wives (I am exaggerating a bit ofcourse). The world’s tallest building is in Dubai but there is no single Arab university among the top 300 universities in the world. With the money they have they could have invested in education, in top universities, in research / science & technology, in hospitals and health care etc. and gained respect around the world but all one sees them doing is this, driving ferraris etc. He can probably afford the release fee: Arab Sheikh owns seized £200,000 Ferrari put outside Scotland Yard as warning to uninsured drivers | Mail Online What is their contribution to human development?
Sorry I digressed slightly but as you probably guessed I have a low opinion of these Arabs (lack politeness for starters) in general. aqal sey paedal, dimagh sey khali, phir gharoor kiss baat ka?
Yes some of them are filthy rich but they have not earned this money through hard work or any special talent. They just inherited it (oil)
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid’s execution, hit back at criticism
I didn’t Saudia is shining example of Islam, I only talked about the punishment and Islamic jurisprudence. If you don’t like parts of Islam/jurisprudence then who am I to make you like it or live with it (considering you are not living in KSA :)). For all I care any country can come up with punishment like “goga till death”
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
The sri lankans are correct Saudi arabia will execute asians and africans very quickly but they would never execute europeans and americans.
This shows a streak of racism and double standards.
The kingdom of saudi arabia is far from islamic because of the fact they are a monarchy. Islam has never allowed any king, queen, prince or princess no royalty is permitted the fact saudi arabia has all these shows clear contradiction straight away. You don't need phd in islamic studies to see this basic flaw.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
[quote]
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia categorically rejects any interference in its affairs or in the provisions of its judiciary under any justifications," a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency read.
[/quote]
Unless the accused happens to be a white skinned western. Then, of course, it is entirely reasonable to listen to the masters. We had a Canadian freed from SA a few years ago, who, I think, was also sentenced to death.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
Oh spare me. She's a freaking BABY KILLER. A Pardon? If this happened in the US, or any other western country, you'd all be out for blood.
I suppose saudi baby's are worth squat to you guys...being barbarians and all...
Yes a baby has been killed but we have only heard one side of the story (Saudi's). It could so easily have been the result of pure negligence or incompetence on the girl's part. She was not a qualified baby-sitter.
Look at the so-called Arab spring. In Egypt people got rid of Hosni Mubarak after so many sacrifices and struggles but despite hope for a new beginning, the person who replaced him (Morsi) became a dictator himself. What a joke!
Look at Libya and Syria. Asad refuses to go despite causing so much bloodshed and misery for > a year. In any other civilised society the leader would have voluntarily resigned by now. Forget western societies even in Pakistan it is unthinkable that a ruler could have survived that long after heaping so much misery on people. Ayub stepped down from office once the public opinion turned against him, Mushy *ja*isa bhi tha *w*ent in a peaceful manner. inn Arabs sey tau hum Pakistani behtar hein despite our own weaknesses.
One cannot help but feel that these Arab societies are a dysfunctional lot because of their tribal mentality.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
The sri lankans are correct Saudi arabia will execute asians and africans very quickly but they would never execute europeans and americans.
This shows a streak of racism and double standards.
The kingdom of saudi arabia is far from islamic because of the fact they are a monarchy. Islam has never allowed any king, queen, prince or princess no royalty is permitted the fact saudi arabia has all these shows clear contradiction straight away. You don't need phd in islamic studies to see this basic flaw.
Unless the accused happens to be a white skinned western. Then, of course, it is entirely reasonable to listen to the masters. We had a Canadian freed from SA a few years ago, who, I think, was also sentenced to death.
Re: Saudis defend Sri Lankan maid's execution, hit back at criticism
Yes a baby has been killed but we have only heard one side of the story (Saudi's). It could so easily have been the result of pure negligence or incompetence on the girl's part. She was not a qualified baby-sitter.
Cop-out. Such considerations are not given to alleged terrorists when killed in whatever way by those commenting here. I'd say a baby killer is quite up there in terms of human scum.
The exact circumnstance of the trial may be questioned...and rightly so, but again, had this person been found guilty through a process you approved of, I don't think your tune would change much, given who was administering the punishment. It's one thing to say that the Suadi's should have followed a certain procedure...you started the thread off by suggesting they should pardon her...
