JEDDAH: The Jeddah General Court officially decided yesterday to uphold the death sentence passed on a Canadian and a Jordanian convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Syrian national. The court’s decision to uphold the verdict it issued in March last year was sent to the Supreme Judicial Council for endorsement yesterday. “We are confident the Council will endorse the verdict this time. Our case is solid,” said the plaintiffs’ lawyer Obaid Al-Ayafi. The court was requested in February by the Supreme Judicial Council to review its verdict. The council endorses all capital and corporal punishments issued by lower courts before the verdict is sent to the Kingdom’s highest authority for final approval. The court’s reply to the council’s inquiries were not made public. The initial inquiries were described as “technical” by inside sources and are believed to have been orchestrated to buy more time to seek forgiveness for the three charged with the murder. Two Canadian brothers and a Jordanian were charged with the murder of Syrian national Munzer Al-Hiraki in an after-school fight in 2007. The eldest Canadian brother, Mohammed Kohail, 23, and the Jordanian national, Mohanna Ezzat, 22, were convicted and sentenced to death early last year.
