Opposition MP asks Sri Lankan President to seek clemency for death row housemaid at ACD summit Oct 17, Colombo: Ranjan Ramanayake, a parliamentarian of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP), has requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa in writing to take up the issue of Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who is on death row in Saudi Arabia. Ramanayake has requested the President to take the matter for discussion during the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) currently underway in Kuwait City. He has noted that the President should try and request for clemency for Nafeek. Nafeek was convicted by a Saudi court for allegedly strangulating to death an infant while the victim's parents were away. Nafeek was 16 years of age at the time of the incident and her defence had stated that the infant had died due to suffocation while being fed. Migrant Rights, a rights group representing the plight of migrant workers in Middle East, has also urged President Rajapaksa to address the plight of Nafeek, during his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia. The group has urged both the President and External Affairs Minister to confront the pressing issue while in the audience of those officials capable of instituting critical change.

Opposition MP asks Sri Lankan President to seek clemency for death row housemaid at ACD summit
Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 07:43 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 17, Colombo: Ranjan Ramanayake, a parliamentarian of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP), has requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa in writing to take up the issue of Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who is on death row in Saudi Arabia.
Ramanayake has requested the President to take the matter for discussion during the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) currently underway in Kuwait City.
He has noted that the President should try and request for clemency for Nafeek.
Nafeek was convicted by a Saudi court for allegedly strangulating to death an infant while the victim's parents were away. Nafeek was 16 years of age at the time of the incident and her defence had stated that the infant had died due to suffocation while being fed.
Migrant Rights, a rights group representing the plight of migrant workers in Middle East, has also urged President Rajapaksa to address the plight of Nafeek, during his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia.
The group has urged both the President and External Affairs Minister to confront the pressing issue while in the audience of those officials capable of instituting critical change.
Source:  Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 07:43 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
URL:  http://www.colombopage.com/archive_12A/Oct17_1350483203JR.php