JEDDAH, 2 January 2006 — Misfer Abdullah Al-Yami has a difficult job. As a mediator, he tries to save death-row inmates from the ultimate punishment.
Sometimes sent by princes and governors to the families of crime victims, Yami attempts to find ways of earning his client’s pardon from the family of murder victims, which is typically the only way in Saudi Arabia to rescue convicted killers from execution.
In a report appeared in Al-Watan daily, Yami said he was currently working on four capital-crime cases. Some of his cases are very old, involving years of negotiations.
“I managed to help settle a big case between two tribes: Al-Raka and Al-Shnan. A member of the Shnan killed five people from the Raka. The man spent more than 17 years in prison before the Raka tribe settled for SR5 million in blood money. This would have not been possible if Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Fahd, along with tribal elders, had not personally become involved,” Yami said.
In Saudi Arabia, a convict is in most cases at the mercy of his victims, or victims’ families, who can demand financial retribution in exchange for pardon, even in capital crime cases.
In his career, Yami says he has helped raise at least SR15 million to rescue prisoners from execution. He says that there are more than 500 death row inmates in the county currently waiting for blood money, the mercy of bereaved families, or the sword.
Yami criticized the greed of some families that demand tens of millions of riyals in return for pardons. He pointed out that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has said that blood money should not exceed SR500,000. Yami said that more than that sum is inspired more by greed than by what might be considered reasonable financial restitution.
Crown Prince Sultan recently sent Yami to the family of Muhammad Jaber Asiri, who was killed four years ago. Ali Al-Barqi was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Yami said that after a long period of negotiations, the family settled for SR2.5 million in blood money. Another capital murder case, involving Abdullah Al-Ahmari who was convicted of killing Saeed Asiri seven years ago, is still pending as the family has not agreed to a settlement.
Yami said that his job requires good negotiating skills and a lot of patience. The biggest obstacle he said is facing families that would not accept blood money in exchange for mercy, or ones that demand exorbitant sums of cash.
“The longest case I’ve had involved was that of two (convicted) killers who had spent 30 years in prison for killing a member of a rival tribe,” said Yami. “A lot of people got involved in the case, and after so many years the family agreed to a pardon in return for the convicts’ lands and SR6 million. The prisoners agreed to give up their lands and donors came up with the blood money.”
The release of the prisoners may have come too late, however. Yami said they were both sick when they were released: One died a month later and the other is still in hospital receiving treatment.
