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Fresh hope for Lankans in death row
By Asif Fuard
The Government on Friday was pushing for a fresh trial in the case where three Sri Lankans were sentenced to death by the Saudi Arabian High Court after being found guilty of criminal offences.

A Foreign Ministry official of the Consular Division told The Sunday Times that a lawyer from Riyadh has now been retained and the Government is trying to get the death sentence commuted into a jail term, since it considers the punishment too harsh.

"The Foreign Ministry has already written to the Saudi King, the Saudi Foreign Ministry, the Saudi Interior Ministry and to the Governor of Riyadh to be sympathetic towards the three Lankans Ranjith Silva, Sanath Pushpakumara and Victor Corea and to withdraw the sentence given," he said.

"The Foreign Ministry has also written to the Foreign Employment Bureau to bear the legal costs involved as it decides on policy matters on Sri Lankan employment abroad. We are awaiting a reply from the Bureau," he said.

A family member of Ranjith Silva who visited the Foreign Ministry and reportedly met Mr. M. Salim of the Consular Division was told appeals against the sentences would be made after the Sri Lankan Embassy gets a copy of the case proceedings.

These three men who went to seek a better life in Saudi Arabia had reportedly not got what they expected and were said to have not been paid for nine months.

In this situation they had got involved in a robbery and been arrested by the Riyadh police on 10.03.2004 and later charged for possession of illegal firearms and attempted robbery. Several months later their families who were reportedly unaware of what had happened received a telegram from the Foreign Employment Bureau, which said the three were due to be sentenced to death by beheading for possessing illegal firearms and for attempted robbery.

Ever since the families received this catastrophic news they had tried their best to get the sentences withdrawn. The families had sent appeals to the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Ministry and even to Prince Aziz of Saudi Arabia who visited Sri Lanka recently. However, they claim they never got a response to their appeals.

All three accused are married with children to support. Ranjith Silva is the only son in a family of five and has one son. Victor Corea and Sanath Pushpakumara both have two children. When The Sunday Times spoke to the family members of the three men they said when they initially went to seek assistance from the Foreign Ministry Consular Division they were told nothing could be done unless the families retained a lawyer in Saudi Arabia, at their expense, to represent the three.

The family members claim the men did not get a fair trial as they were sentenced to death after two court hearings at which no witnesses were called to the stand. They also said that after the trial ended the men were asked to place their signatures to a document, in Arabic, in effect accepting the death sentence. Ranjith Silva alone had reportedly refused to place his signature. Ranjith Silva's sister Shirani Samaraweera told The Sunday Times she denies the Foreign Ministry claim that the three men were sentenced to death for being involved in a murder.

"Recent newspaper articles quoted Consular Division officials who said the three were involved in a murder and that was the reason the death sentence was passed on them. This is a false story by the Consular Division which has misled the media. The offence they committed was possessing illegal firearms and attempting to steal from a shop. We plead with the Government to help them since they have not committed a crime to deserve the death sentence," she said.

When the Director General of Consular Affairs and Overseas Administration I. Ansar was contacted by The Sunday Times to get an official view, he requested he be called again in half an hour. However when the same number was called again, a voice at the other end said 'wrong number'.

The punishment given to the three Sri Lankans has caused much debate in various foreign forums since Saudi Arabia being a United Nations member is accused of having violated the International Covenant on Migrant Workers and the International Covenant on Human Rights.

Human rights activist Nimalka Fernando told The Sunday Times that the three men were deprived of their human rights since they were asked to sign a document which was not translated into their own language and they had no lawyer representing them.

"It is a human rights principle that accused must have facilities to seek justice and due process must be followed in the administration of justice. The fact that due process was not followed was a violation of natural justice," she said.

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