Pak consulate to extend aid to pardoned prisoner

The Pakistani Consulate General in Jeddah is set to extend all possible help to Mohammad Naeem Mohammad Siddique, the Pakistani prisoner who is scheduled for release after the president of the Jeddah Summary Court collected blood money last week as a humanitarian gesture. Sayed Tahseem-ul-Haq Haqqi, Pakistani vice consul welfare is scheduled to visit Siddique today. Haqqi said he has already contacted the prison authorities to follow up on the case. The consulate decided to aid the prisoner following an Arab News report on Sunday.
Siddique’s plight sparked the interest of Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Salamah, president of the Jeddah Summary Court, when Al-Salamah visited Briman prison to check on unresolved cases. The prison manager introduced him to Siddique.
Al-Salamah was told that Siddique had been incarcerated for 12 years. At the time of the murder and subsequent conviction, the court convinced the victim’s family to accept blood money of SR 110,000 and pardon him. But Siddique’s family could not raise the money. Al-Salamah helped raise the SR 110,000 blood money from philanthropists.
Arab News learned from an informed source that Siddique was scheduled to be released from custody on Monday but there was a delay because his papers have not been finalized. Haqqi said that the consulate is doing its best to assist all imprisoned nationals. “We get an official list of Pakistani nationals in jail from the Saudi foreign ministry.”
Siddique declined an interview request from an Arab News reporter who visited the prisoner at Briman.
There are more than 1.5 million Pakistanis working in the Kingdom according to the consulate. The consulate in Jeddah handles the welfare of Pakistanis in Makkah province, Al-Baha, Asir, Najran and Jazan while the embassy in Riyadh handles the other provinces.