The appeal hearing for a Montreal man facing execution in Saudi Arabia didn’t go well Monday, as his lawyer was sent out of the courtroom while the session continued behind closed doors.

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.

Family and friends had hoped to change the sentence through the appeal process.  

But a spokesman for the family, Mahmoud Al-Ken, said Kohail’s lawyer was ejected from the courtroom in Jidda after the judges read the appeal form he had submitted.

Al-Ken said the judges also threatened to revoke the lawyer’s licence.

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.

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.

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Note:  I have some thoughts on this but I’l keep my big trap shut.  Suffice to say I know what backdoor message I would be sending the Saudi’s right about now.  They wouldn’t like it.

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