Reports on Rizana case incorrect - Foreign Employment Ministry

The Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Ministry said yesterday informal negotiations to obtain a pardon for Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek are continuing even though some reports have been published that she is going to be beheaded.

The Sri Lankan embassy in Riyadh has also confirmed that there has been no recent developments on this case, the Ministry said. The Saudi Court decision to pass the death sentence on Nafeek for the alleged murder of a four month old baby was upheld by the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia in October 2010.

The execution of the death sentence was suspended to facilitate a negotiated settlement with the parents of the deceased child due to a personal appeal by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for clemency from Saudi King and similar appeals by many human right groups.

For a pardon the consent of parents is essential under Shariah law.

Rizana had travelled to Saudi Arabia on a passport giving the date of birth as February 2, 1982 whereas her actual date of birth is February 24, 1988. “As such even though she was actually a minor at the time of this alleged crime, as per the passport she was not a minor,” the Ministry said.