JEDDAH: The family of a student who died in a January 2007 schoolyard brawl blamed on two Canadian brothers denied on Monday they are willing to accept blood money (diyyah) in exchange for the life of one of the two, who has been sentenced to death.
The father of the brothers, Ali Kohail, had recently alleged that the victim's family demanded $5 million as blood money.
"It is a pack of lies," Minwer Al-Hiraki, speaking on behalf of the victim's family, told Arab News. "We never demanded any money to settle the case from anyone near or far from the Kohail family. We have made it crystal clear on more than occasion that we are seeking justice for our son's brutal murder. We are not going to settle for anything less."
The two Canadian brothers and a Jordanian were charged with the murder of Munzer Al-Hiraki, a 19-year-old Syrian, in the schoolyard brawl that involved dozens of teens. The older Canadian brother Mohammed Kohail, 23, and Jordanian Mohanna Ezzat, 22, were convicted and sentenced to death earlier this year. The younger Canadian brother Sultan still awaits his day in court after an appeals court overturned a previous sentence of 200 lashes and a year in prison issued by a juvenile court.
The Appeal Court ordered a retrial in an adult court. Sultan may face his brother's fate. The fight allegedly erupted when Sultan, who was 17 at the time, harassed Al-Haraki's 19 year-old, cousin, Raneem. The accused allegedly led the fight.
