JEDDAH, 25 February 2007 — After a preliminary death verdict was issued two days ago on the case of Abo Kab — the notorious joy rider who was sentenced to death for causing the deaths of three young boys and injuring two others who were in his car while joy riding — a leading Jeddah lawyer has been assigned the task to lodge an appeal.
Lawyer Khaled Abu Rashid was assigned the case on Thursday and met the family of Abo Kab yesterday to discuss the issue before an appeal court hearing.
Abu Rashid said Abo Kab is 100 percent guilty, yet the accident was just like any other and that death was the wrong verdict. He added that the joy rider is not innocent and deserves to be punished but not killed. “If that was the case then drivers involved in car accidents should also be killed. Accidents happen daily due to speed, so we would be killing innocent people every day,” he said.
The lawyer added that, according to Saudi law, Abo Kab can only be referred to as a murderer if there was an intention to murder and there was none.
“The three boys were his friends and rode with him in his car willingly. No one knew that he would live and they would die. If the driver was one of the three who were killed, how would the case then have been dealt with,” said Abu Rashid.
According to Al-Madinah newspaper, one of the survivors said Abo Kab would go joy riding every Wednesday with his friends. On that fatal day in late 2005, Abo Kab had gone to the Al-Falah area to perform stunts.
“While driving fast and getting close to the area Abo Kab thought that the road would be clear and was surprised that a Lumina car had appeared and that its driver had already begun a stunt. Abo Kab tried to avoid getting close to the car but lost control and consciousness,” said one of the survivors of the crash.
Abu Rashid said that Abo Kab is remorseful over the deaths and has pledged not to joy ride any more. He added that the joy rider was in grief at the loss of his friends.
The family of the three young boys who died have called for the death sentence to be handed to Abo Kab. “Of course it is the normal reaction of any parent who loses their child,” said Abu Rashid, adding, “It is in the end God’s will, but those who forgive will be rewarded well by God. And we always look to have all parties satisfied.”
The case started in 2005, when Abu Kab of Al-Otaibi family performed a car stunt called the “Death Stunt” in which he drove at a speed of 120 kilometers and then pulled the hand break forcing the car to glide aimlessly across the road thus causing the death of three passengers.
Some local newspapers recently published that the case had been assigned to 14 lawyers. However, Abu Rashid said this is untrue. “The father came to our office and I am in charge of the case, but my office has around another 14 lawyers; that caused the misunderstanding,” said the lawyer.
