Rizana case:
Mothers pardon pending
Chamikara Weerasinghe
Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) Additional General Manger
L K Ruhunage yesterday said the Bureau has not given up its diplomatic
effort to save Rizana Nafeek, the 20-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid
facing execution in Saudi Arabia.
Rizana can only be released if she was granted a pardon by the
child’s parents, said SLFEB sources. The father of the child has
reportedly expressed his willingness to pardon Rizana. The mother’s
decision is still pending, they said.
Rizana was sentenced to death by Saudi Arabian High Courts for
allegedly killing her employer’s four month old son. She claimed that
the child had died due to accidental choking.
Following Rizana’s sentence, the Bureau appealed to the parents of
the child to grant a pardon to the housemaid who was 16 years old when
she committed her alleged crime in February 2005, said Ruhunage.
Meanwhile, the execution of Rizana’s sentence to be carried out last
year was suspended by the King of Saudi Arabia following an appeal by
President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Rizana’s family in Muttur are hopeful that their daughter will be
pardoned and returned to the country. “We are fasting and praying for
her return,” Rizana’s mother Razeena told the media. She is the eldest
of a family of four.
Meanwhile, sources at the Bureau said they sent a team to meet
Rizana’s employer and his wife in Riyadh to seek a pardon for Rizana.
The employer, the father of the child has reportedly agreed to pardon
Rizana
The mother’s decision is still pending, the sources said.
Ruhunage said, the Bureau is prepared to offer compensation to the
child’s family for her release.
|