The Supreme Court in Riyadh has endorsed the death sentence given to Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who was convicted of murdering a Saudi infant in 2005. A three-member panel of judges from the Dawadami High Court headed by Chief Justice Abdullah Al-Rosaimi found Nafeek guilty of murdering the four-month-old son of Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaibi and sentenced her to death on June 16, 2007.
It was disclosed that Nafeek had killed the child after she was asked to bottle-feed him by the sponsor’s wife. Nafeek later filed an appeal against her death sentence. When the case was referred to the Supreme Court via the Court of Cassation, Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) assigned Saudi law firm Khateb Al-Shammary on a reported SR150,000 contract to defend her.
The Supreme Court referred the case again to the Dawadami court for further clarification on the appeal made by Al-Shammary before issuing its verdict. However, the AHRC Executive Director Basil Fernando was quoted as saying to the Arab News by telephone from Hong Kong that he would seek the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to resolve the case.