Dh10 million to stop execution

A Saudi man convicted of killing another local man during a fight needs to pay SR10 million (Dh10m) to avert execution, but his family managed to raise only around Dh1m, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mueesh Al Gahdali, 34, has been on the death row for nearly 10 years after he was found guilty of stabbing another Saudi to death during a scuffle in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah, the Arabic language daily 'Sabq' said.

Relatives and friends have succeeded in persuading the victim’s relatives to pardon the killer and get diya (blood money), but they have demanded SR10m, nearly 50 times the diya limit set by the conservative Gulf kingdom.

'Sabq' said Gahdali’s family had managed to raise only around SR1m and has been given five months to pay diya or the defendant will be beheaded.