Philippines Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago has revealed that a court in Dammam has forwarded the file of Lanuza, the Filipino on death row since 2000 for killing a local citizen, to the office of Eastern Province governor last Thursday after the victim’s family and judge signed the court decision.

The ambassador indicated that he had just returned from Dammam, where he verified with the court that the victim’s family had signed the court decision, thereby acknowledging that they had received the blood money.

“I met on Wednesday with the head of the Dammam Grand Court judge Ibrahim Al-Sayyari to clarify the reasons for the delay, as it was confirmed that the court decision was already signed by the victim’s family and the judge, but it was not yet sent to the governor’s office. The Grand Court judge explained that the delay was because the supervising judge Usamah Al-Tayyar was on leave,” he said. He added that Al-Sayyari summoned the court administrative supervisor and instructed him to prepare the endorsement and have the alternate judge sign the endorsement file.

“On July 25, we went back to the court and ensured that the endorsement was signed and sent to the outgoing section for transmittal to the office of the Eastern Province governor,” Tago said.

Earlier, the Filipino envoy called on Abu Saqr Al-Qahtani, a relative of the victim, to seek his help in signing the court decision.

Abu Saqr had provided assistance to the Philippines Embassy and the Dammam Reconciliation Committee in February 2011 during negotiations to seek pardon for Lanuza from the victim’s family.

The Filipino envoy reiterated the appreciation of the Philippines government to the family of Mohammad Saad Al-Qahtani for their fairness and thanked the Dammam Reconciliation Committee headed by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Osaimeen and Sheikh Ali bin Ali for their continued help and assistance in reaching out to the family.

“I must also thank the governor’s office and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who issued a royal order to pay the remaining SR2.3 million in blood money owed to the family,” he said.

The embassy will check with the governor’s office whether it will issue the order for release, or forward the file to the Ministry of Interior.