DUBAI - A Saudi prince
who murdered a fellow Saudi may be executed, a newspaper reported on
Sunday, in a rare example of a member of the kingdom's ruling family
facing the death penalty.
The
English-language Arab News did not name the prince or his victim, but
said a senior member of the family and government, Crown Prince Salman,
had "cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of
murdering a Saudi citizen".
In
a message about the case to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin
Nayef, Prince Salman said: "Sharia (Islamic law) shall be applied to all
without exception", the daily reported.
Prince
Salman's message followed a statement from the victim's father that he
was not ready to pardon the killer and he was not happy with the amount
offered as blood money.
The families of murder victims are encouraged by authorities to accept blood money instead of insisting on execution.
The
paper quoted Crown Prince Salman's message as saying: "There is no
difference between big and small, rich and poor ... Nobody is allowed to
interfere with the judiciary's decision. This is the tradition of this
state. We are committed to following the sharia."
Saudi Arabia had executed at
least 47 people as of May 2013, according to Amnesty International's
website, compared to 82 in all of 2011 and a similar number in 2012.
Members
of the ruling family are only rarely known to be executed. One of the
most prominent cases was Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his
uncle, King Faisal, in 1975.
The
family is estimated to number several thousand. While members receive
monthly stipends, and the most senior princes command great wealth and
political power, only a few in the family hold nationally important
government posts.
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