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The Canadian government has asked for clemency in the case of Mohamed Kohail, who has been sentenced to death by beheading in Saudi Arabia.
Canada's ambassador to Saudi Arabia is set to meet Tuesday with a Montreal man facing execution in the Middle Eastern country.
Mohamed Kohail, 23, was convicted of murder and sentenced on March 3 to a public beheading following a schoolyard brawl in 2007 that left an 18-year-old student dead.

The ambassador will meet with Kohail, his family and legal counsel to discuss the young man's case, according to Foreign Affairs spokesman Rodney Moore. Kohail's appeal hearing Monday was not said to go well, after Kohail's lawyer was ejected from the courtroom during the proceedings.

A family spokesman, Mahmoud Al-Ken, said the judges threatened to revoke the lawyer's licence, although he did not say why.

Kohail's family has argued that he did not receive a fair trial in Saudi Arabia, and hoped the sentence would be changed through the appeal process.

Moore said the ambassador will also meet with officials from the Saudi Justice Ministry, in an effort to ensure that due process is being followed.

Kohail's younger brother Sultan, 17, was convicted of similar charges after the schoolyard brawl, and family members fear he will also receive the death penalty at his sentencing in early April. A Saudi national has also been charged.

The federal government has indicated it will seek clemency for Kohail at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Last Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's department released a statement saying the minister brought up the case while meeting with the head of Saudi Arabia's general intelligence service, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

"I reiterated the Canadian government's position that a review of the decision made by the Saudi judiciary be carried out with a view to ensuring a full and fair hearing," Day said in a statement.

"We urge Saudi authorities to overturn the death sentence."

Al-Ken said on Thursday that Day had met the wrong people, and should have asked to see someone higher up.

Liberal Opposition critic Dan McTeague had said on Wednesday that Day should have met with his direct counterpart in Riyadh, rather than his deputy, as well as with the Saudi justice minister, instead of that country's intelligence chief

.

CBC

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the story.