Saudi Arabia Postpones Filipino's Beheading
 |
| A banner depicting Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz as the King of Spades holding a blood-stained sword hangs on a bridge north of the Lebanese capital Beirut on 19 February 2013. (Photo: AFP - Chady Souaid) |
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has suspended all
executions for three months, giving Joselito Zapanta, a Filipino worker
on death row, an unexpected reprieve, officials said Tuesday.
Philippines Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on Filipino workers overseas, said a senior Saudi official informed the Philippine embassy in Riyadh on Monday that the Saudi king has postponed all executions until June 8.
The Philippine’s government and Zapanta’s family had been working to raise $1 million in blood money due to be paid to the family of the Sudanese landlord killed by Zapanta in 2009.
The deadline for raising the money was Tuesday but no execution date has been disclosed, he said.
President Benigno Aquino III has written the Saudi king to request more time to raise the money demanded by the family of the victim, said Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez.
Hernandez said only $245,055 has been raised in private and government contributions.
"This is a blessing from God," Binay said in a statement. "However, this does not mean that the victim's wife has agreed to extend the deadline for the family of Joselito to raise the 'blood money.'"
Binay said Aquino and Zapanta's mother separately wrote King Abdullah on Saturday "to ask for help."
Binay said Zapanta was visited by his mother and a Philippine embassy staff member the following day.
According to local media, the Saudi ministerial committee was looking into formally dropping public beheadings as a method of execution in the US-backed oil-rich kingdom, considering death by shooting squad as an alternative.
Saudi Arabia last beheaded a national convicted of murder on Monday, bringing to 18 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year.
In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The US-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.
Offenses punishable by death in the kingdom include murder, armed robbery, rape, drug trafficking, sorcery and witchcraft.
The government estimates there are more than 1 million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, part of about 10 million overseas workers who send home billions of dollars in remittances that help shore up the Philippine’s economy.
Philippines Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on Filipino workers overseas, said a senior Saudi official informed the Philippine embassy in Riyadh on Monday that the Saudi king has postponed all executions until June 8.
The Philippine’s government and Zapanta’s family had been working to raise $1 million in blood money due to be paid to the family of the Sudanese landlord killed by Zapanta in 2009.
The deadline for raising the money was Tuesday but no execution date has been disclosed, he said.
President Benigno Aquino III has written the Saudi king to request more time to raise the money demanded by the family of the victim, said Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez.
Hernandez said only $245,055 has been raised in private and government contributions.
"This is a blessing from God," Binay said in a statement. "However, this does not mean that the victim's wife has agreed to extend the deadline for the family of Joselito to raise the 'blood money.'"
Binay said Aquino and Zapanta's mother separately wrote King Abdullah on Saturday "to ask for help."
Binay said Zapanta was visited by his mother and a Philippine embassy staff member the following day.
According to local media, the Saudi ministerial committee was looking into formally dropping public beheadings as a method of execution in the US-backed oil-rich kingdom, considering death by shooting squad as an alternative.
Saudi Arabia last beheaded a national convicted of murder on Monday, bringing to 18 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year.
In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The US-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.
Offenses punishable by death in the kingdom include murder, armed robbery, rape, drug trafficking, sorcery and witchcraft.
The government estimates there are more than 1 million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, part of about 10 million overseas workers who send home billions of dollars in remittances that help shore up the Philippine’s economy.
Courtesy: Alakhabar English
