Appeal status unresolved for ex-Dollard man

Despite expectations that 23-year-old former Dollard des Ormeaux resident Mohamed Kohail would have found out by Saturday whether a Saudi Arabian court will accept his death sentence appeal, no announcement has come out and the Kohails still wait in suspense.

"There is no news about this whatsoever," said Kohail's friend Mahmoud Al-Ken, who has been keeping in close touch with the family ever since Kohail was handed his death sentence in March.

According to Al-Ken, the family and legal counsel were expecting an announcement on June 7 because Saudi Arabian tribunals usually take about two to three weeks after an appeal is filed to decide whether they will accept it or not. Saturday marked the third week since Kohail's appeal was filed. "Usually the Court of Appeal has to answer within forty-five days," Al-Ken said.

Formerly residents of Dollard, the Kohails moved to Saudi Arabia in 2005 in order to be with a sick relative as well as attend Mohamed's sister's wedding. Mohamed ran into trouble when he got involved in a schoolyard brawl in January 2007 to protect his younger brother Sultan, 17.

A Syrian youth, Munzer Haraki, 19, died during the fight and both Kohails were found guilty. Mohamed, a Canadian citizen like the rest of his family, learned he faces the death penalty in March.

Mohamed's father testified to a Saudi court of appeal in May, stating a fence collapsed on Haraki, complicating an internal bleeding problem that ultimately killed him.

"(The fighters) leaned greatly on the fence," Al-Ken told The Chronicle, and the waist-high structure wound up collapsing on Haraki.

This contradicts Kohail's original verdict, which had said Haraki's internal bleeding was due to being punched in the stomach.

Meanwhile, though the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry has come under fire from Kohail's advocates for not doing enough to help him out, spokesperson Rodney Moore said the case remains a high priority.

"We're deeply concerned," he stated, adding the sudden resignation of Maxime Bernier and the arrival of David Emerson as Minister of Foreign Affairs a couple of weeks ago does not change a thing. "Canadian officials continue to meet with the Kohails and their legal counsel," Moore said.

Aubrey Harris, Amnesty International's Canada branch co-ordinator for their campaign to end the death penalty, said the government's continued commitment to Kohail was the least it could do. "It's a basic obligation to Canadian citizens," he said, urging Canada to succour its citizens awaiting the death sentence or suffering other human rights violations all over the world.

Kohail's younger brother Sultan faces 200 lashes and a year of jail time.

Chronicle, Raffy Boudjikanian