A Kenyan mom has been fighting hard to save her son from being killed in Saudi Arabia. He was supposed to be executed, but he got a break for now. She’s relieved, but still worried because she hasn’t heard much from the Kenyan government. She needs to gather a lot of money to save her son’s life, but it’s tough. They’ve only collected a small amount so far. The government is trying to buy more time to help her.
Her son, Stevo, got into a fight at work and accidentally killed someone. At first, he was supposed to go to jail for a few years, but then the court changed its mind and said he should be executed. They said Stevo’s family could pay money to the victim’s family instead, but it’s a lot of money.
The mom feels desperate. She even asked if she could take her son’s place, but she was told no. In some countries, if someone hurts or kills someone else, they can pay money to the victim’s family instead of going to jail or being killed.
In Saudi Arabia, this payment is called “diyah.” It’s based on Islamic law and can vary depending on the situation. The victim’s family has to agree to it too.
The mom was told she had to pay millions, but she negotiated it down to about a million dollars. That’s still a huge amount of money for her to find.
Her son has been in prison for a long time. He even changed his name to Abdulkareem. His family didn’t know about this name change until recently.
It’s been really hard for Stevo’s kids. One of them hasn’t seen their dad since they were three years old.
The mom is terrified that her son might be beheaded, which is a common way of executing people in Saudi Arabia. Last year, over 100 people were executed there.
The Saudi government hasn’t said anything about this case yet, but the Kenyan government is thankful for their help. They’re going to keep talking to each other to try to find a solution.
This story comes from the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3g8gz84rpyo