ABHA, 14 December 2006 — A cry for forgiveness at an intense moment was enough for Hamdan Al-Amri to stop his nephew’s execution, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
Badr ibn Hamdan Al-Kaabi, 22, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of fatally shooting his aunt, Aziza Al-Amri, after a domestic dispute. He spent two years in prison while his case moved its way through the courts.
Despite spending two years refusing to forgive his nephew, the scene at the site of the execution was too much for Hamdan. As Badr was being escorted to the middle of the plaza for execution, he cried out to his uncle, making one last desperate plea for the forgiveness that would spare him death.
Hamdan said it was the sight of his nephew in chains and in a state of utter despair and fright that gave him the strength to forgive Badr. “I never thought that I was going to forgive him,” said Hamdan. “It wasn’t until I saw the preparations for the execution that I saw something I could not tolerate, that I could also stop.”
In accordance with Shariah law, the victim or surviving relative has great sway over the fate of the convicted. Mediators are often called in to negotiate with victims’ families in hopes they could come to a blood money arrangement where the killer pays restitution in exchange for his life. In the event a family agrees to blood money and the victim cannot afford to pay, families or other groups appeal to the community to raise the funds.
In Badr’s case, the only one who could save him was the widower of the woman he was found guilty of murdering. And when Hamdan forgave his nephew and stopped the execution, the crowd burst out with praises to Allah. Hamdan told Al-Watan that all he asks for in return is that his nephew stay away from the family to avoid any future conflict.
Badr told the paper that while he was in prison, Tuesdays were the scariest because that was when executions usually take place in Abha. Persons who are on death row are often kept in dark about their scheduled execution date.
Badr said he figured out he was scheduled for execution last Tuesday after hearing his mother’s voice. “Last Monday I called my parents,” said Badr. “My father was crying over the phone. I called again to find out that my mother was crying as well. I then realized that Tuesday was going to be the end of my life.”
Badr provided a rare glimpse of a death row inmate’s final moments.
“In the morning I was accompanied by a police officer to say goodbye to my friends in prison,” he said. “Then they took me to the manager’s office where they asked me to write my will,” said Badr. Among his final requests were that friends perform the Haj on his behalf and that his organs be donated, including a kidney to a fellow inmate.
Badr, who was fasting during the day, expressed his gratitude to his uncle and said that he is sorry for what he did. “I am planning to perform Haj as soon as I leave the prison,” he said.
