QATAR: SRI LANKAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER

January 14, 2013: A Sri Lankan has been sentenced to death by a court in Qatar after he was found guilty of killing an Indian.
Wengadasalm Sudeshkar (22) was charged with stabbing and killing an Indian expatriate. The incident occurred in 2011.
Sudeshkar came to Qatar in 2010. The case is in appeal and a higher court is hearing it.
The court case has generated media interest in Sri Lanka, the home country of the accused. According to a media report, the family of the victim is ready for a negotiated settlement to the case and has demanded more than QR100,000 as blood money.
However, as per Qatar’s laws if the murder was in cold blood and pre-mediated, no out-of-court settlement is permitted. Such settlements are allowed only in deaths caused accidentally.
The Sri Lankan embassy in Qatar, when contacted, said it was yet to be officially informed about the court judgment.
“We are aware about the verdict but haven’t received any official communication in this regard,” a senior embassy official said on grounds of anonymity.
Embassy officials were, meanwhile, quoted by the Sri Lankan media as saying that details of the case had been forwarded to the external affairs ministry in Colombo and that the ministry was taking steps to get Sudeshkar released. (Sources: The Peninsula, 14/01/2013)