Rizana’s case: Govt. recalls its envoy in Riyadh

By Nalaka Nonis

Appeal made, legal fee paid

An appeal seeking a pardon for Rizana Nafeek has been filed.

The Asian Human Rights Commission said it had paid the initial legal fees of Rs. 1.4 million to support the appeal and it was ready to pay the full fee of Rs. 4.4 million.

Local and international organizations have appealed for a pardon of Rizana who has made a statement that while she was trying to bottle feed the four month old infant the child had choked and that she did not strangle the baby.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) has tracked down the job agency which sent the underaged girl to Saudi Arabia.

FEB chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said they could not take action against the agency because there was no evidence to show that it was involved in getting the girl a passport on a forged birth certificate.

He said the CID had been called in for further inquiries.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador, A.M.J. Sadiq has been recalled by the Foreign Ministry two months prior to the completion of his tour of duty in Saudi Arabia. He is set to arrive in Colombo later this month.The Sunday Times learns that the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday informed the Ambassador to return without giving reasons for Mr. Sadiq’s early removal.

The decision to remove him follows the ambassador’s failure to obtain any official appointment for the visiting Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila who left on Friday for Riyadh to discuss the possibility of securing a pardon for teenage Sri Lankan housemaid Fathima Rizana Nafeek who has been sentenced to death on charges of killing a four month old infant in her care.

As a result of the failure to obtain any official appointments, the deputy minister’s trip would be reduced to a private visit and until the time of his departure from Colombo only appointments with two chief priests in Mecca and Medina were confirmed.

Mr. Bhaila left for Riyadh on Friday with the parents of Rizana Nafeek, almost a week after they originally planned to leave the country. Foreign Ministry’s Regional Director General Ibrahim Ansar is accompanying them.

Mr. Bhaila before going to Riyadh said they had not been granted permission to visit Rizana who is in a prison in Diawadami, 400 kilometers off Riyadh and that continuous attempts to get an appointment with the victim’s family also had failed. But Mr. Bhaila said they would make another effort to meet the baby’s family which had the power to give a pardon.

The family has so far not demanded any so-called ‘blood money’, according to Saudi law to pardon the girl, but two ministers told parliament the the government was ready to pay the money.

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