The family of a Syrian teen beaten to death in a schoolyard brawl said that although the Canadian convicted of his murder has escaped the executioner's sword, he and his younger brother will surely spend the rest of their lives in a Saudi jail.
"We have full confidence and conviction that the murderers and killers are not going to be free from jail," Minwer al-Haraki said from Jeddah.
Mr. al-Haraki expressed shock and anger over a Saudi high court decision to cancel an execution order for Mohamed Kohail, a 24-year-old Canadian citizen, offering him a new trial in the murder of 19-year-old Munzer al-Haraki in 2007.
The Kohails, who were visiting their former home in Jeddah when the fight broke out, are hopeful the reprieve from the Saudi courts could lead to permanent freedom for both Mohamed and his younger brother, Sultan, who also stands convicted.
However, Mr. al-Haraki said his family would continue to fight for the maximum sentence for the Kohail brothers at a fresh trial, and predicted life imprisonment for the two.
The decision to cancel the execution order had to do with "politics" rather than justice, the al-Haraki family says.
"We understand this is something political. … It cannot be easily understood from my side," said Mr. al-Haraki, who is Munzer's uncle and a powerfully connected businessman in the kingdom.
"The cancellation of the order for [Mohamed's]execution is very, very disappointing to us. We were not expecting this, not even 1 per cent," he said The Kohails case has bounced around the Saudi courts for several years, and is very controversial in Saudi society because it pits the wealthy al-Haraki family of Syrian descent against the Kohails, who are of Palestinian descent, but hold Canadian citizenship.
When the Kohail brothers and a Jordanian friend were first convicted of killing Munzer, their prospects seemed bleak.
Saudi courts flatly rejected their lawyers' argument that the brothers were acting in self-defence and that there was no proof they were responsible for the fatal blows to Munzer al-Haraki, who died of a ruptured bladder.
Mohamed was convicted, after he says he was made to sign a false confession, and sentenced to public beheading. Sultan was tried as a minor and sentenced to 200 lashes, but a Saudi court later ruled he should retried as an adult. His case remains in legal limbo.
The al-Haraki family dismisses speculation that any blood money was offered or exchanged to spare Mohamed's life. The decision to offer Mohamed a reprieve from execution came from "high up," they said.
To them, the case against the Kohails remains unchanged, and they are confident of fresh convictions when they are retried.
"We will continue the case for ... justice until the last minute of our life," Mr. al-Haraki said.
"The accused should be in custody, even if the case delays on for years," he said. "Whatever game they play with truth and lies, the truth will exist at the last moment of their breath and we will be there up to the end for the same."