JEDDAH: The fate of Faisal Al-Otaibi, a Saudi naval officer found guilty of causing the death of three boys in a stunt-driving accident in 2005, was revealed yesterday when a Jeddah court sentenced the man to 3,000 lashes, 20 years in prison and a lifetime ban on driving.
Judge Muhammad Amin Mirdad issued the verdict to the relief of the Al-Otaibi’s lawyer and the dismay of the parents of two of the boys who were seeking to have a previous death sentence upheld in the appeals process.
Al-Otaibi, known in the media by nickname “Abu Kab” — which means roughly “the guy with the baseball cap” — has been fighting to keep from being executed for the deaths of three young passengers in his vehicle.
The deaths were attributed to Al-Otaibi losing control of his vehicle during a stunt-driving maneuver. Stunt driving, or joyriding as it is called here, is a popular pastime among Saudi youths.
Bader Khethela, the father of two of the three boys killed in that accident (Ahmad, 14, and Abdul Aziz, 11) has been seeking the execution of Al-Otaibi as an exertion of his family’s private right under Shariah: The choice between accepting blood money (diyah) or insisting on the death penalty.
The family of the other boy that was killed has forgiven Al-Otaibi by giving up their private rights claims to either execution or diyah. Khethela, however, wants the man executed.
“I refuse to accept diyah,” Khethela said to Arab News yesterday, angered over the verdict that he called “unfair and unjust to my (deceased) kids.”
“These judges should prescribe only a fair judgment with which they can face Allah,” he added.
Khethela received treatment yesterday after suffering a nervous breakdown after the verdict was issued.
The case pitted the Court of Cassation against a local Jeddah Summary Court. The Cassation Court has stood by its belief that the death penalty is too strong a punishment for a case of negligence that led to the death of the boys, who reportedly were participating in the joyriding meet-up on their own volition. (Khethela rejects this and claims his boys were “kidnapped.”)
The Jeddah court, however, has maintained that it’s the responsibility of the judicial authorities to issue strong punishments against this growing trend of public stunt driving that has led to numerous deaths and injuries in recent years.
However, the Cassation Court must approve death sentences; without its endorsement, the execution is blocked.The Khethela family has vowed to continue to fight the Cassation Court’s decision.
Al-Otaibi’s lawyer, Khalid Abu Rashed, has maintained that he believes his client is guilty and should be punished, but that the death penalty is a step too far.
In other cases of death caused by stunt driving, perpetrators have been sentenced to jail time as little as six months and the payment of diyah.
In 2006, a stunt-driver caused the death of four young Saudi men who happened to be driving in the area of a joyriding meet. He was sentenced to five years in prison by a Riyadh court.
The result of this verdict may be used as a precedent in current and future trials related to joyriding fatalities.
