OTTAWA - Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day personally asked senior Saudi officials on Wednesday to overturn a death sentence against a Montreal man.
A department news release said Day met in Riyadh with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Saudi deputy minister of the interior, and Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, head of the country's General Intelligence Presidency.
The statement says Day discussed the case of Mohamed Kohail, 23, a Canadian citizen sentenced to death by beheading after a fatal schoolyard brawl. It also said he expects the Saudis will review the case.
"I reiterated the Canadian government's position that a review of the decision made by the Saudi judiciary be carried out with a view to ensuring a full and fair hearing,'' he said in the statement.
"We urge Saudi authorities to overturn the death sentence.
"There is a review process in similar cases within the judicial framework of Saudi Arabia's justice system. We are closely monitoring the situation . . . and we are expecting a review of this case.''
The minister is on the final leg of a Middle East visit which took him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Saudi Arabia for talks on security and public safety issues.
His final stop will be in Egypt.
Few details have come out of the trip. Day's officials say his schedule is too full to allow even a conference call to journalists back home and the only information from his trip has come from departmental news releases.
