JEDDAH, 18 May 2005 — The Jeddah General Court has ruled on the first family case brought by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). The judge ruled in favor of two orphaned girls and their mother who had approached the NSHR seeking justice from the girls’ half-brother who is their guardian.
The sisters, Nora and Sara, lived with their mother in a shelter for the poor; they had to subsist on charitable donations while their half-brother denied them their share of their dead father’s pension and other assets.
“This is the first case filed by the NSHR and the case was transferred to me by the director of the NSHR in Makkah. We filed the case about eight months ago,” said lawyer Yasser Khoja.
In March the judge, Hammad Al-Sawat, issued a hold on the brother’s property and agreed to the NSHR lawyer’s request that the brother provide a full account of the father’s estate and assets.
The judge also issued a ruling preventing the brother from handling the finances and property until a ruling was made. Two days ago the court ruled on a conciliation contract between the brother and his sisters which included dropping the custody case that the brother had filed as a counter-claim because he had a document naming him as their guardian.
The court also ruled on putting the sisters’ previous share from their father’s pension and the rents from two apartment buildings into a bank account in their name which will be supervised by a legal accountant.
The contract also ordered putting the girls’ share from selling the two buildings into a bank account or buying them an apartment to live in and giving them their monthly share of the pension, SR4,000, and the mother’s share, SR3,260, to the mother.
“Up to now, the brother has given the mother SR1,500 a month as their combined share of the pension, but starting next month, he will give the mother the total amount they deserve,” Khoja told Arab News.
The father died about 14 months ago and since then, whenever the mother asked for their share of the pension or the rent from the buildings, the girls’ half-brother denied her the money.
“She could not even enroll the girls in school because he refused to give her the necessary documents,” said Khoja. The girls are five and six and the mother had no one to support her.
The defendant also had to provide the court with an account of the rents from the two buildings through a legal accountant and in the presence of the mother. The judge also offered the brother visitation rights to his sisters for five hours a week so that they might become closer and establish a relationship.
“It will take about a week to 10 days to receive the documented court ruling. If the half-brother complies with the items in the ruling, it won’t be necessary to seek other agents to enforce the ruling. But if he doesn’t, we will register the court rulings at the police and civil rights department of the Ministry of Interior to enforce the rulings and there penalties will be imposed on him,” said Khoja.
