Lawyer barred from Dollard man's appeal

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Canada's ambassador to Saudi Arabia will meet with Saudi officials from the Ministry of Justice to ensure court proceedings for the appeal of former Dollard des Ormeaux resident, Mohamed Kohail's death sentence are accomplished according to Saudi Arabian law.

"I can tell you that the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia will be meeting with Mohamed Kohail, his family and legal counsel to discuss the case on April 1," Rodney Moore, a spokesperson from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, told The Chronicle.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement by Kohail's friend Mahmoud Al-Ken that the family's lawyer has been locked out of the appeal process in a Jidda court.

"They told him (Mohamed) had to hand (his appeal file) in person to the judge," when the lawyer tried to present himself to the judge's office, Al-Ken explained. Since then, the defence attorney has been locked out of the appeals process. "They threatened to revoke his license," Al-Ken added.

Kohail, 23, was sentenced to death by decapitation March 3 for his involvement in a schoolyard brawl that caused the death of another youth, Munzer Haraki, 19. Kohail was reportedly looking to protect his younger brother Sultan, 17, who is also on trial but currently out on bail. The Kohails are Canadian nationals temporarily in Saudi Arabia with their parents to be with a sick relative and to attend their sister's wedding, family friends told The Chronicle previously.

"I think this judge is biased," Al-Ken said. "I hope the Saudi officials will react on it."

Last week, Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day visited Saudi Arabia, pleading with a deputy minister and an intelligence agency official for clemency on Kohail's behalf.

Al-Ken said Day's visit may have proven more effective if he had seen a minister on his own level, such as the Minister of the Interior or the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Barry Gaiptman, a guidance counsellor at Place Cartier Adult Education Centre in Beaconsfield, where Kohail used to attend, is trying to raise awareness of his plight. The school will hold a general assembly on April 16, with friends of Kohail invited to speak, he said.

According to Gaiptman, student reaction was originally slow at Cartier but several have come forward since the death sentence was announced, wishing to add their names to a petition demanding the Canadian government ensure fair treatment for Kohail by Saudi Arabia.