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Govt moving to obtain full pardon for Rizana
The government is moving towards securing a full pardon for Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, sentenced to death by a high court in Saudi Arabia, Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera said in Parliament yesterday.
The Minister said that the death sentence was only suspended following a request by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Saudi King and would now move towards a full pardon for Nafeek.
"The Sri Lankan Government is prepared to pay any amount as ‘blood money’ to the parents of the infant, which is the only manner in which she can be pardoned according to Shariah law," he said.
Under the Shariah the government can offer reconciliation efforts and can pay blood money, but the family must be the one to decide if Nafeek is executed or pardoned.
Rizana Nafeek was found guilty of murdering the four-month-old son of Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaibi and was sentenced to death on June 16, 2007.
The Minister was responding to a question raised by DNA Galle District MP Ajith Kumara.
Responding to another question, raised by UNP Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera, Minister Perera said that during the period of five years from 2006 to 2010 a total number of 1,488 Lankan expatriate workers had died overseas.
The minister said that those deaths had been caused by natural reasons, road traffic accidents, suicides, homicides and other accidents including electrocution, drowning, falling from heights etc.
Mortal remains of the victims, other than those who were buried in the host country with the consent of next of kin, had been repatriated to Sri Lanka during the same period.
Asked for reasons why some dead bodies could not be brought here, the minister said there had been few reasons including delay in completion of post mortems, lack of cooperation of sponsors and delay in submission of medical reports, forensic reports, no objection certificates etc. from the relevant authorities.
Minister Perera said that a total sum of Rs 195,885,125 had been paid as compensations for the aforesaid persons who died overseas.
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