RIYADH, 6 July 2006 — An expatriate worker who was pardoned under the recent royal amnesty still finds himself in jail while thousands have been freed.

The reason appears to be that the Indian expatriate’s father has refused to sign a letter promising that his son will not repeat the crime — killing a bicyclist in a traffic accident.

The father is apparently concerned about signing a document where he must assure that his son will not repeat the crime of involuntary manslaughter.

Shuhaib Chaudhury, working as an accountant in Riyadh, struck an Egyptian on a bike in March 2004. The victim later died of his injuries in a Cairo hospital.

Chaudhury was driving a car he didn’t own and was without a license. He was imprisoned and required to pay SR100,000 in blood money to the relatives of the deceased. The money was paid as part of the amnesty Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah declared in June, opening the way for Chaudhury’s release.

A social worker involved in the case told Arab News that Chaudhury’s sponsor had an odd request as a condition for the release. He said the Saudi company employing him wanted Chaudhury’s father to give a written pledge to the police that his son would not repeat the mistake in future. However, instead of obliging them, the father at first said he was busy. Subsequently, the father expressed his reservation about signing such a pledge because he was unsure whether his son would not repeat his crime.

Hundreds of prisoners held for violating private and public rights as well as committing minor crimes in different parts of the Kingdom have so far been released in the wake of the June 10 royal amnesty.

Authorities released 200 more inmates from jails across Jeddah on Monday.

Gen. Ahmad Al-Zahrani, director of prisons in Jeddah, said the prisoners released included both Saudis and non-Saudis and none of them had been involved in serious crimes such as murder and rape. “Hard-core criminals will pose a danger to society and the royal pardon does not include such prisoners” he added.

According to Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Harithy, director general of prisons, special panels have been set up to study the cases of prisoners who deserve amnesty. At least 4,000 prisoners are to benefit from the royal decree, which covered payment of debts and blood money on behalf of people detained for violating private rights.

Al-Harithy said the prisoners were being released after carefully scrutinizing their files by panels comprising prison, police and prosecuting officials.