RIYADH: The parents of the Sri Lankan maid who is accused of murdering a Saudi newborn in 2005 have appealed to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to take suitable action for their daughter’s release since she has been languishing in jail for the past five years.

 

 

The appeal for clemency was handed to Bandar Al-Aiban, president of the governmental Human Rights Commission through a proxy in Riyadh on Monday.

 

 

Rizana Nafeek’s case is in appeal after she was found guilty and sentenced to death. She claims the baby choked during bottle feeding and that her earlier confession is invalid because it was taken while she was in police custody and had no legal representation.

 

 

She said language barrier was another factor at that time that makes the confession invalid.

 

 

The parents maintain that she murdered the infant in vengeance on the 7th day of her job.

 

 

A three-member high court in Dawadmi, near Riyadh, handed down the death sentence on June 16, 2007 and on July 15 the judgment was appealed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) through the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.

 

 

In the letter, the woman’s parents, Mohammed Rafeek and Farina Nazik, insist their daughter is not a murderer.

 

 

An HRC source said the organization would not take any action in a pending court case, but that it has been closely monitoring the situation and it would take necessary action following the final verdict — the date of which is not known and depends on the current proceedings.

 

 

The case has been bouncing between courts since it first reached the high court in Riyadhin March 2008. The last hearing of Nafeek’s case took place on Dec. 21.

 

 

Speaking to Arab News, lawyer Al-Shammary said the delay in hearing the case was mainly due to transfer of one of the three judges.

 

 

He added that he had appealed the case on the grounds that the translator who interpreted Nafeek’s initial confession to police, was not a professional and he did not speak the same language as the maid.

 

 

AHRC Executive Director Basil Fernando told Arab News from Hong Kong that the commission is getting inquiries from all parts of the world as to why the maid is kept for so long without a proper verdict. Fernando urged the Sri Lankan mission in Riyadh to take further action in this matter.

 

 

Nafeek was brought to the Kingdom to work as a housemaid on a passport that falsely stated her age to be 23, but according to her birth certificate she was only 17 when she entered the Kingdom to work as a maid for a Saudi family.

 

 

The recruiter in Sri Lanka responsible for facilitating the human trafficking of Nafeek, who was a minor at the time of her entry in the Kingdom, has never been named.

 

 

Khateb Al-Shammary, the lawyer, cited several reasons why the maid should not be executed.

 

 

In addition to the issue of Nafeek’s age at the time of the alleged murder, the legal representative says she was assigned the duties of a nanny, a task for which she had no experience, and then given a newly born baby to take care of.

 

 

The lawyer also maintains that since Nafeek had only been on the job for seven days there was not enough time for her to harbor ill will against the baby, as the parents of the dead baby allege. - (Arab News)