Kenyan man on death row in Saudi Arabia freed
Stephen Abdukareem Munyakho was released under a "judicial decree", Korir Sing'oei posted on X, without giving further details.
His mother, veteran journalist Dorothy Kweyu, told local media that she "rolled on the floor" when she heard of his release.
Munyakho was working in Saudi Arabia when he was convicted of murdering a Yemeni colleague in 2011. The crime carries the death penalty, but after protracted negotiations, the victim's family agreed to accept blood money.
Saudi Arabia follows Islamic law, which states that the death sentence can be commuted if the deceased's family accepts blood money, known as dihya, as compensation.
Kenyan media reported that the family had received $1m (£742,000) earlier this year in a payment made by the government and a charity, the Muslim World League.
Munyakho's execution was postponed multiple times, following interventions by Kenyan officials.
Ms Kweyu waged a long and desperate campaign to save her son.
"This satisfaction is going to be with me for a while," the Star newspaper quoted her as saying after her son's release.
"This time, it is true. The ambassador [in Saudi Arabia] has confirmed it," she added.
Munyakho went to work in Saudi Arabia in his early 20s and 14 years ago was a warehouse manager at a Red Sea tourist resort.
Speaking to the BBC last year, Ms Kweyu said her son got into a dispute with a Yemeni colleague.
According to her, the workmate stabbed Munyakho with a letter opener, prompting him to retaliate by grabbing the same opener and attacking him. It resulted in the colleague's death.
He was initially sentenced to five years for manslaughter in 2011, but an appeal changed that to a murder conviction in 2014 - carrying the death sentence.
Sing'oei, Kenya's Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, said that Munyakho had performed the minor Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca following his release.
It is unclear when he would return home.
You may also be interested in:
Secretive Saudi executions leave families in the dark
How many countries still have the death penalty?
Foreign maids on 'hell' of kafala jobs in Middle East
The Kenyans lured to become unwitting 'love' fraudsters
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC Africa podcasts
Focus on Africa
This Is Africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israeli minister prays at flashpoint holy site as officials say 27 aid-seekers killed in Gaza
Israel Palestinians DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A far-right Israeli minister visited and prayed at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site on Sunday, triggering regional condemnation and fears that the provocative move could further escalate tensions. The visit came as hospitals in Gaza said 27 more Palestinians seeking food aid were killed by Israeli fire. With Israel facing global criticism over famine-like conditions in the besieged strip, the visit by Itamar Ben-Gvir to the hillside compound threatened to further set back efforts by international mediators to halt Israel's nearly two-year military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The area, which Jews call the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. Today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Visits by Israeli officials are considered a provocation across the Muslim world and openly praying violates a longstanding status quo at the site. Jews have been allowed to tour the site but are barred from praying, with Israeli police and troops providing security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said after Ben-Gvir's visit that Israel would not change the norms governing the holy site. Ben-Gvir made the visit following Hamas' release of videos showing two emaciated Israeli hostages. The videos caused in uproar in Israel and raised pressure on the government to reach a deal to bring home from Gaza the remaining 50 hostages who were captured on Oct. 7, 2023, in the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war. During his visit to the compound, Ben-Gvir called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and encourage Palestinians to leave, reviving rhetoric that has complicated negotiations to end the war. He raged against a video that Hamas released Saturday of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David showing him skeletal and hollow-eyed in a dimly lit Gaza tunnel. He called it an attempt to pressure Israel. Ben-Gvir's previous visits to the site have prompted threats from Palestinian militant groups. Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in and around the site fueled an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021. His visit Sunday was swiftly condemned as an incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan, the Al-Aqsa Mosque's custodian, and Saudi Arabia. Sufian Qudah, spokesman for neighboring Jordan's foreign ministry, condemned what he called 'provocative incursions by the extremist minister' and implored Israel to prevent escalation. Videos of hungry and suffering Israeli hostages Israel has been jolted by new videos of hostages with their ribs protruding and bodies ravaged by hunger. Netanyahu's office said it spoke with the Red Cross to seek help in providing them food and medical care. The videos — released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza — triggered outrage across the political spectrum. Tens of thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday urging Israel and the United States to urgently pursue their release after suspending ceasefire talks. Right-wing politicians who oppose deals with Hamas said the footage reinforced their conviction that the militant group must be obliterated. 'From here we need to bring a message and ensure that from today, we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over all of the Gaza Strip, take out every Hamas member and encourage voluntary emigration,' Ben-Gvir said on a video posted on social media after his visit to the holy site. Deadly chaos grips food distribution points Palestinians reported more deadly violence at aid sites Sunday, and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a staff member was killed when Israeli forces shelled its office with artillery. Hospital officials said Israeli forces killed at least 27 Palestinians seeking food, and witnesses described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged toward aid sites. Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts warn faces 'a worst-case scenario of famine ″ because of Israel's blockade. No aid entered Gaza between March 2 and May 19, and aid has been limited since then. Yousef Abed, among the people en route to a distribution point, described coming under indiscriminate fire and seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground. 'I couldn't stop and help them because of the bullets,' he said. Two hospitals in southern and central Gaza reported receiving bodies from routes leading to the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, including 11 killed in the Teina area while trying to reach a distribution point in Khan Younis. Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, including one traveling through Teina, told The Associated Press that shootings occurred on the routes, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops. Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire in recent weeks near aid distribution sites. The United Nations says 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and hundreds of others have been killed along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel's military has said it only fires warning shots. Both claim the death tolls have been exaggerated. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities but said it was reviewing the Red Crescent's claim. GHF's media office said there was no gunfire 'near or at our sites.' More deaths from hunger Meanwhile, Gaza's Health Ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours, bringing the malnutrition-related death toll among adults to 82 over the five weeks that the ministry has counted such deaths. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministry's count of war casualties. Ninety-three children have also died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began, the ministry said. Israel has taken steps in the past week to increase the flow of food into Gaza, saying 1,200 aid trucks have entered while hundreds of pallets have been airdropped, but U.N. and relief groups say conditions have not improved. The U.N. has said 500 to 600 trucks a day are needed. Anger has led to protests overseas, including one in Australia on Sunday by thousands of people. The 2023 attack that sparked the war killed about 1,200 people and abducted another 251. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures but hasn't provided its own account of casualties. ___ Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Solve the daily Crossword
Wall Street Journal
34 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Hamas Releases Video of Hostage Digging His Own Grave in a Tunnel
TEL AVIV—Emaciated and pale, Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli hostage, was filmed by his Hamas captors digging his own grave in a cramped underground tunnel, one of a series of videos that Palestinian militants have released in recent days of emaciated Israeli hostages. David and another hostage, 21-year-old Rom Braslavski, also shown emaciated and weak, beg to be freed in the videos, warning that their deaths are near. They criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ignoring their plight.
CNN
34 minutes ago
- CNN
Far-right Israeli minister prays at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, breaching decades-old agreement
A far-right Israeli minister sparked outrage on Sunday after leading a group of worshippers in prayer at the most sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, despite a decades-old agreement that bars Jews from worshipping there. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism in Israel, commemorated Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of mourning, in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount. On Tisha B'Av, Jews mark the destruction of two ancient temples that once stood on the land. While there, he called for his country to 'conquer' Gaza and 'encourage' Palestinians to leave the enclave. The complex is the holiest site in Judaism, where Jews face in prayer. It is also the third holiest site in Islam. Anyone can visit the site, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there, according to an understanding known as the 'status quo agreement,' which has existed since Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967. Ben Gvir has visited the complex a number of times before, including on previous Tisha B'Av commemorations, but hasn't before led a congregation in prayer there. The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs quickly condemned Ben Gvir, calling him an 'extremist' and saying that the move 'blatantly disregards the sentiments of Muslims across the world, not only in Palestine.' Islamic holy sites have become subject to 'daily violations by settler groups operating under the protection of a right-wing government that is actively working to seize control of both Islamic and Christian holy sites through a clear and systematic plan,' the ministry said in a statement. Jordan, which administrates the holy site, and Saudi Arabia also condemned Ben Gvir's actions. Jordan's foreign ministry described the incident as a 'blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, an unacceptable provocation, and a condemned escalation.' Hamas called the move a 'grave and escalating crime against the mosque.' Palestinians want East Jerusalem, where the compound is located, as the capital of their future state. Most of the international community considers the eastern sector of the city as being under Israeli occupation. Later on Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement that its 'policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change.' In the past, the PMO has emphasized that policy regarding the site is determined by the Israeli government and its prime minister, not individuals. While at the site on Sunday, Ben Gvir prayed 'for Israel's complete victory in the war, and for the safe return of all the hostages,' his office said. 'It is from here that a message must be sent: to conquer the entire Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over all of Gaza, eliminate every Hamas member, and encourage voluntary emigration,' the minister said in a video recorded at the compound. 'Only in this way will we bring back the hostages and win the war.' Earlier this week, Ben Gvir was declared a persona non grata by the Netherlands for reportedly inciting violence against Palestinians, advocating for the expansion of illegal settlements and calling for 'ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip,' Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp wrote in a letter. This came after Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on him, as well as Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in June.
