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28 March 2024

Emirati donates Dh10 million 'blood money' to save Saudi convict's life

Mashal Al Mutairi was sentenced to death last year. (Sabq)

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By Staff

An unknown Emirati man donated SR10 million (Dh10 million) as the remaining sum of 'blood money' to save the life of a convicted Saudi killer just a day before he was to be executed, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Monday.
 
Mashal Al Mutairi was sentenced to death last year after he was found guilty of killing another Saudi during a fight in the Northeastern town of Hafr Al Batin.
 
The victim’s relatives had demanded SR100 million (Dh100 million) diya (blood money), but agreed on half the sum after mediation by Prince Faisal bin Maashal, the Emir of the Central Saudi province of Al Qaseem.
 
The convict’s tribe managed to raise SR40 million through donations in the oil-rich Gulf Kingdom but the victim’s family rejected the sum and insisted on Mutairi’s execution.
“An Emirati paid the remaining SR10 million yesterday (Sunday) and this gesture has saved Mutairi’s life just a day before he was to be executed,” ‘Sabq’ daily said.
 
Under Islamic law, which is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia, a convicted killer can escape execution and walk free if pardoned by the victim’s family in return for ‘diya’, which is officially set in Saudi Arabia at SR300,000 for a Muslim victim. The victim’s relatives are allowed to demand any sum.