RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has, through a royal decree, approved recommendations regulating the terms of pardon for prisoners on death row for murder, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The recommendations were given by a committee set up to study the issue of the kin of murdered people demanding huge amounts of blood money (diyah) from the relatives of the murderers, even if they are poor.
The committee also recommended the setting up of reconciliation committees in all provinces to facilitate negotiation between the kin of murderers and their victims in qisas (blood for blood) cases.
The royal decree banned the setting up of charity tents or billboards to collect donations for the payment of blood money. Those involved are also not allowed to raise funds through the media.
The committee comprised representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the Presidency of General Intelligence.
Accepting blood money is an Islamic way of saving a convicted murderer from execution provided the victim’s relatives agree.
Saudi leaders, including the king, often intervene in such cases, acting as goodwill ambassadors seeking forgiveness from victims’ families. The Shariah is clear in that nobody but the families of victims can save a person who has been sentenced to death for murder.
The Saudi Press Agency also noted that there is a seven-year -old standing royal decree limiting to SR500,000 the amount of cash that can be claimed to offer pardon.
The exponential rise in the rate of blood money has condemned several families to life-long debt and utter poverty. There has been a growing fashion of people demanding sums as high as SR8 million to offer pardons. The amount, however, never exceeds SR5-SR6 million. Families are also given short deadlines to raise cash.
There are already two reconciliation committees operating in the Makkah and Riyadh regions. The Makkah committee has looked into 420 cases so far, securing 104 pardons last year alone.
Paying exorbitant blood money causes psychological and financial burdens on the families and tribes of murderers, said Abdul Rahman Al-Hamid, a member of the Abha Literary Club and a researcher of traditional customs. “The sharp rise in diyah has become a crucial issue that needs to be resolved,” he said.
