By P.K.Balachandran

In a major diplomatic triumph, the government of Sri Lanka has succeeded in persuading Saudi Arabia to reopen the case in which a 45 year old Lankan mother of three was to be “stoned to death” for adultery.
The Lankan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr.Harsha de Silva, told parliament here on Tuesday, that the Saudi government has agreed to give the lady in question a fresh trial in what may well be a benchmark case.

“This can be considered a big victory. We will provide her with legal assistance,” Dr.de Silva said.
The Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government has thus succeeded where the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa had failed. In 2013, the Rajapaksa government was not able to save the life of 24 year old Rizana Nafeek sentenced to be beheaded for the alleged murder of an infant in the household where she was working as a maid.

Even Rajapaksa’s appeal to the Saudi King and the journey of several Muslim leaders to Saudi Arabia to persuade the powers-that-be there failed to have an impact.

There has been a huge outcry in Lanka over the proposed “stoning to death” of the yet un-named Muslim lady from Maradana in Colombo. Earlier, the Deputy Minister for Power, Ajith Perera, had called for a ban on the migration of unskilled Lankan female labor to Saudi Arabia.

Nearly all Sri Lankans, including Muslim organizations, felt that it was unfair to have sentenced her to death and that too by stoning, for adultery. Demonstrations were held last week, as the date of execution neared, putting pressure on the government to act through diplomatic channels. Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera along with the Minister of Foreign Employment Thalatha Athukorale, met the Saudi Charges d Affaires in Colombo and appealed for clemency.

An appeal was filed in a Saudi court seeking review which helped put off the execution. Last Sunday, Lankan officials met the death row prisoner in jail and assured her that no stone would be left unturned to secure a review of the sentence.

According to the media here, the lady’s case was that she was forced to confess that she had had sex with an unmarried Sri Lankan man because he had already confessed. According to the Saudis, she was given four chances to retract, but she did not retract. She also said that if it was God’s Will that she should be executed and that too in the Holy Land, she was ready to accept it.

Need To Know Saudi Law

Leading Colombo-based Muslim lawyer, Javed Yusuf, was quoted in Ceylon Today as saying that witnesses would be necessary in such cases, but witnesses would be hard to come by because no one would commit adultery in front of witnesses. Others said that a person could not be sentenced on the basis of the confession of an alleged accomplice.

Yusuf told the paper that there are safeguards in Saudi law which the lady could have utilized if she was well informed. He recalled a case in which a man sentenced to death on the basis of three confessions, was released when he pleaded not guilty at the fourth opportunity to retract, just before execution. Yusuf therefore suggested that Lankan workers going to Saudi Arabia should be very well briefed on the laws of the land.

Courtesy:New Indian Express