Lesser sentence for younger Dollard brother

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

It is a bittersweet victory for Mohamed Kohail's younger brother Sultan, 17, who got sentenced Saturday to 200 lashes and a year in prison in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

"The 200 lashes are basically because he stayed near the fight and he didn't call the police," said Rana Saheb, a Dollard des Ormeaux resident and friend of Mohamed from high school who used to tutor Sultan when he lived there with his family.

"Anything is better than death, right?" facetiously asked family friend Mahmoud Al-Ken, who has been keeping in touch with the Kohail family, Canadian citizens who are currently in Saudi Arabia with one member, Mohamed, 23, facing a death sentence.

The family, however, will fight on to appeal Sultan's sentence along with older brother Mohamed's.

The brothers were charged with manslaughter along with a third youth, Muhanna Hezzat, a Jordanian national, after their involvement in a schoolyard brawl resulting in the death of Munzer Haraki, 19, a Syrian.

However, a blurry cellphone video available online shows there were several more youth involved in the fight. "According to the family, everyone should be held on charges," explained Al-Ken, "especially the ones who had weapons."

Based on the information available, the lashes should "be applied to anyone in the fight," said Saheb.

The former Dollard des Ormeaux residents were visited by Ron Davidson, Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, on April 1, according to Foreign Affairs Canada. Davidson also met Saudi Arabian Justice Ministry officials.

Al-Ken said the Canadian government should be doing much more than it has so far. Last year, the government also reassured there would be a fair trial in Saudi Arabia, but that has not happened yet. The government's actions have to reflect "an official, aggressive diplomatic-level program," he said.

"Canadian government officials attended Sultan's court proceedings," said Foreign Affairs Canada spokesperson Rodney Moore. He added the government remained deeply concerned by the severity of the verdict and was keeping in touch with the Kohail family.

Sultan's sentence was lesser compared to those of his brother and Hezzat, because he had a different judge due to being tried in a youth court. "There was due process and cross-examination of witnesses," Al-Ken explained. Mohamed did not get this chance, according to him.

Though the sentence is lighter for Sultan, Saheb said it was still too strong by Saudi Arabian standards. "Over there, adultery is 80 lashes," Saheb said, suggesting that is a much worse crime than what Sultan was charged for.

Sultan has 30 days to file his appeal. Mohamed's appeal was rejected last week and his lawyer thrown out of court proceedings.