JEDDAH, 13 April 2008 — The Court of Grievances has postponed for six weeks the second hearing into a case filed by the father of Mueed, a 16-year-old boy who was executed in Jizan last year.

Hussein Al-Hakami filed a lawsuit alleging Jizan police mishandled the case of his son, who was a minor when he allegedly murdered a young boy. The hearing was postponed to give time to Al-Hakami’s lawyer to prepare a response to a presentation made by legal representatives for the police.

Jizan police, represented by the Department of Public Security, submitted a counter argument in court on April 6.

“The court requested us to respond to their argument,” said Abdullah Al-Zmami, an attorney from Al-Zmami Law Firm who is representing Al-Hakami. He added that the court postponed the hearing to give them time to prepare their response.

Al-Zmami said that the police defended their stance saying it was legal. “It wasn’t legal. The Prosecution and Investigation Board has been active in Jizan since 1420 AH, six years before the boy’s execution, and this case was within their jurisdiction,” said Al-Zmami. This is the second postponement of the case after defendants failed to show up for a hearing on Feb. 3.

Al-Hakami alleges that his son was interrogated, convicted and executed without the presence of an attorney or family member.

Mueed was arrested on July 12, 2004, at the age of 13 in connection with the death of a young boy in Jizan. While his son was still alive, Al-Hakami filed five complaints against the local authorities — two to the Interior Ministry and one to the king — requesting that Mueed be spared until national authorities could review the conduct of local police.

However, his call was in vain. Al-Hakami said that local authorities detained him on three occasions, once for 10 days and twice for a month each, for allegedly making false accusations. These charges were later dropped.

The suit against the Department of Public Security states that the family was denied information about the date of their son’s execution, and that they were prevented from visiting their son prior to his beheading.

On Feb. 13 Al-Zmami lashed out at comments made by Jizan Police Chief Gen. Ahmad Gurmallah Al-Gazzaz to local newspaper columnist Mahmoud Abu Taleb. The police chief had said Mueed was taken into custody after his father informed them that he had confessed to the crime. He added that Mueed was then taken to a juvenile court so that a judge could determine if he was a minor.

Al-Zmami told Arab News that the judge denied such a hearing took place, and that under Saudi law, police cannot detain and process minors under the age of 15 without immediately involving the legal guardian. In this case, Mueed was interrogated with no guardian or representative.

The lawyer said that because the boy was a minor, his case should never have gone beyond a juvenile court. He added that the judge at the juvenile court, Ali Mashour Al-Homadi, denied ruling that the Mueed was an adult.

In his newspaper interview, the police chief also claimed that the boy’s father had fingerprinted an affidavit saying his son confessed to the crime, something the father has repeatedly denied.

Al-Zmami said there was no medical report to indicate that the victim — whose age has not been disclosed but was younger than Mueed — had in fact been raped. Al-Zmami also claims that Mueed’s mental state was not assessed — a requirement under Saudi law.

In his response, Al-Gazzaz said that during interrogation at a juvenile detention center, Mueed described how he tried to hide the body and how the boy choked to death after he covered his face while assaulting him. The police chief added that the confession was recorded in the presence of Mueed’s parents.

Al-Gazzaz said that after the completion of investigations, the case was transferred to the governorate, which then passed it onto the Prosecution and Investigation Board where the boy was tried as an adult. He was subsequently sentenced to death and later executed.

Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child that prohibits the death penalty for capital crimes committed by minors, defined in the charter as anyone under the age of 18.