Saudi prince faces execution for killing man

A Saudi prince could be beheaded for killing a local man after the Gulf kingdom’s crown prince ordered authorities to execute the prince in case he is not pardoned by the victim’s family for diya (blood money), a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Crown prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who is also the deputy premier and defence minister, sent an urgent letter to the interior ministry ordering it to execute the prince if the victim’s relatives refuse to pardon him.

“The Sharia (Islamic law) must be enforced on all without any exception because there is no difference between the strong and the weak in Islam,” Prince Salman said in his letter, a copy of which was published by the Arabic language daily Ajel.

“No one has the right to intervene in the judiciary system…this is the regulation in our country…in case the relatives of the victim refuse mediation and insist on the enforcement of Shariah, you are asked to implement the sentence against the killer…justice must be served,” added the letter, titled “very urgent.”

The paper did not identify the prince and the victim nor did it say how he killed the man. Both names appeared to have been mentioned in the published copy of the crown prince’s letter but were apparently deleted by the newspaper.

Under Islamic law, which is enforced to the letter in conservative Saudi Arabia, a killer can avert execution and walk free if pardoned by the victim’s family in return for diya.
 

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