Govt. ready to pay 'Blood Money' to save Rizana Nafeek

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Foreign Employment Promotion Ministry yesterday assured that the Lankan Government is prepared to pay any amount of `Blood Money' to the parents of the deceased Saudi child for the release of the convicted Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek.

The death sentence, which was approved by the Daw Admi High Courts in Saudi Arabia on Rizana Nafeek was later withheld by the Saudi Arabian King following a request made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa early this year.

Foreign Employment Promotion Minister Dilan Perera told the Sunday Observer that the Lankan Government has not ignored this matter and is taking all possible measures to save her life.

He said according to the Sharia law in Saudi Arabia, the Lankan housemaid could now be pardoned only by the parents of the victimised child by giving them `Blood Money'.

The then 17 years old Sri Lankan Rizana Nafeek of Muttur was sentenced to death by a Saudi court in February 2005 for allegedly strangling a four-month old baby to death while bottle-feeding.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Chairman, Kingsley Ranawaka said that the Lankan Government has extensively discussed this matter with labour officials in Saudi Arabia, Lankan Foreign Ministry officials and legal professionals here to save the life of Rizana.

Chairman Ranawaka further said the SLBFE had also pleaded the Saudi Arabian Government for clemency for the life of Rizana Nafeek saying that she had committed the alleged crime when she was a teenaged girl of 17.