JEDDAH, 11 March 2008 — A Saudi lawyer has volunteered to defend an uncle who butchered his 15-month-old nephew at the Marhaba supermarket on Sari Street in Jeddah last week.
“I see nothing wrong with volunteering to defend the accused,” said lawyer Abdul Aziz Al-Noqali. “All suspects have the right to be defended by a lawyer during investigations and court sessions. The accused is innocent until he is proven guilty,” he said.
The 25-year-old uncle, a Syrian national, had taken the boy to the supermarket to buy him sweets and decapitated him in front of customers, shouting that he wanted the boy’s father to come and see his son.
Al-Noqali said newspaper reports about the incident prompted him to seek to defend the killer. “I know that investigations are ongoing and I haven’t looked into them yet. I’m waiting for the responsible authorities to call me to defend the accused,” he said.
The Saudi lawyer has not yet met the uncle and only knows details of the case through local press. “The killer used to love the child to an extent that he became attached to him. The child’s parents were separated and the court has issued a decision that the father could visit his child,” said Al-Noqali, adding that there was a dispute between the father and his brother-in-law.
Al-Noqali said that lawyers present cases and help justice to be achieved. He added that he has not started official procedures to defend the killer, who is currently at Briman Prison.
