MONTREAL - The father of a Montreal man facing public beheading in Saudi Arabia has made a rare direct plea to the judge hearing his son's appeal, giving supporters of Mohamed Kohail hope that his death sentence may be overturned.
Kohail's father, Ali Kohail, presented brief testimony last week to the judge who is expected to rule by June 7 whether the 23-year-old should have a new trial.
Mohamed Kohail and Muhanna Ezzat, a 22-year-old Jordanian, were convicted of killing Munzer Haraki, 19, during a schoolyard brawl. They were both sentenced to beheading.
Mohamed's younger brother Sultan, 17, was sentenced to 200 lashes earlier this year, but has also appealed his sentence.
Mohamed Kohail's family claims they have found new evidence suggesting the Canadian citizen wasn't responsible for the death, a family friend in Montreal said.
Mahmoud Al-Ken says Kohail's parents talked to nine witnesses who said that a stone fence toppled on Haraki during the January 2007 melee in Jidda, Saudi Arabia.
A gang of 15 men chased down the Kohails and Ezzat during a settling of accounts stemming from an alleged insult Sultan made to a female cousin of Haraki's. Sultan denies the accusation.
The gaggle of people began to lean against the waist-high fence, which toppled from the weight.
"It seems that Haraki was on the bottom of the pile,'' Al-Ken said.
Haraki apparently died of internal injuries complicated by a weakened heart.
A video of the incident circulating on the Internet supports the claim that the Kohails were not the aggressors, Al-Ken said.
The initial claim was that a punch or beating led to Haraki's injuries. But the original trial lasted about 90 minutes spread over 10 hearings and much of the defence evidence wasn't heard.
The appeal judge, who is the same judge who heard the original case, cannot overturn a verdict but can send a case back to be retried if he finds errors were made.
Ali Kohail's appearance before the judge is a good sign because usually appeals consist of documentation, Al-Ken said.
The Canadian government has asked for clemency, but it is unclear what steps are being taken to persuade the Saudis to spare Kohail's life.
Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa, said in a prepared statement that the Canadian government "urges Saudi authorities to overturn the death sentence.''
Moore added that Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has written to his Saudi Arabian counterpart to request the Kohail decision be reviewed.
But apart from a visit from Stockwell Day and another in early April from Ron Davidson, Canada's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Al-Ken says no Canadian officials are regularly briefing Mohamed.
"There is no appropriate follow-up if we compare it to Brenda Martin's case,'' Al-Ken said of the Trenton, Ont., native who was recently returned to Canada from a Mexican prison.
"There were four ministers working on that case and in Mohamed's case, we have none.''
Some supporters have expressed concern that the appeals process will play out as Parliament shuts down for the summer.
But one Liberal MP says Kohail supporters needn't worry.
"I think it's important to recognize that Canadian parliamentarians are speaking with one voice here,'' said Dan McTeague.
"That aside, I don't think it's in anyone's interest to see this young man's life terminated through an injustice that denied him proper due process and having the facts understood.''
The Kohail brothers, who are of Palestinian origin, have been Canadian citizens since 2005. The family relocated from Montreal to Saudi Arabia in 2006 to take care of a sick daughter.
