The Sri Lanka Government will send a special delegation to Saudi Arabia to plead for clemency for the teenage Sri Lankan girl facing death sentence there.

The delegation will be led by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Hussein Bhaila and will include the parents of Miss Rizana Nasik, the girl facing death sentence.

Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwelle told the PRIU that the dispatch of the delegation to make an appeal for clemency was in keeping with the law and traditions in Saudi Arabia. The appeal had to be made to the Governor of the region where the prisoner is held. The presence of the parents with the high level representation from the Sri Lankan Government would give added weight to the appeal.

The situation regarding making an appeal on behalf of Rizana Nasik had been carefully studied by those who were well versed in the Sharia Law as practised in Saudi Arabia and the traditions of the country, he said.

Minister Rambukwelle discounted allegations that the Government had delayed the payment of legal fees for the appeal to be made by lawyers in Saudi Arabia. "Money is of the least concern; we are doing what is best in keeping with both law and tradition as it applies in Saudi Arabia to obtain clemency for this Sri Lankan girl", he said.

It is learnt that the Saudi lawyers who had been approached on this matter by the Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Sri Lanka Mission in Riyadh had
initially sought a fee of 250,000 Saudi Riyals (Rs. 7,453,000 approx). When they were requested to reconsider this fee, as it appeared unreasonable, it
had been reduced 150,000 (Rs. 4,461,000 approx.) Saudi Riyals. However, the lawyers had not been able to give any assurance regarding the chances for
clemency for Miss Nasik or mitigation of her sentence.

The delegation to plead for clemency will also include representatives of the Sri Lanka Mission in Riyadh who are aware of the operation of law and tradition in this regard. It will arrive in Saudi Arabia before July 16,
which is the final date for appeal.

 Miss Rizana Nasik was sentenced to death under Saudi Law following the death by choking of an infant that was in her charge. She was charged with death by strangulation. It is alleged that she was harshly handled by the Saudi Police; did not have the help of a translator to explain her position, and that she had been forced to sign a confession that criminally implicated her with the death of the infant.