SAUDI ARABIA: BLOOD MONEY PAID FOR FILIPINO ON DEATH ROW

February 11, 2015: A member of the Saudi royal family ordered the government to pay ‘diya’ (blood money) on behalf of a Filipino who is serving jail for killing a compatriot after he converted to Islam and persuaded 14 other Pinoys to embrace the religion, according to a media report.
Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, prince of the eastern province, instructed a government committee in charge of prisoners welfare to ‘immediately’ pay Dh66,000 diya to the victim’s family and release the prisoner, Emirates 24/7 reported.
“We visited the prisoner and informed him about the positive development. We also gave him a present and some money in recognition of his efforts to persuade 14 other Filipinos to embrace Islam,” the committee’s director Sheikh Ahmed Al Shahri reportedly said.
“Upon hearing the news, he cried and prayed for the prince. He promised that he would pursue his campaign for Islam whether he stays in Saudi Arabia or leaves,” he added.
The inmate was on death row after he was awarded death sentence by a court in the eastern port of Dammam for killing another Filipino during a fight several years ago.
It said the diya nullified the death sentence and he would soon be freed, the Dubai-based news portal reported. (Sources: filipinotimes.ae, 11/02/2015)