Najran emir OKs blood money cap

NAJRAN — The Emir of Najran has approved a proposal by the sheikhs of the tribes to set a limit to blood money. A source said Najran Emir Prince Prince Juluwi Bin Abdulaziz Bin Musaed has approved the new procedure in dealing with blood money in homicide cases. “The new procedure includes setting the maximum blood money amount settled outside of court at SR5 million and the maximum compensation for a disabling injury at SR1 million,” said the source. The source also said compensation for any less severe injury is to be a maximum of SR500,000. “The emir made it clear that any violations may face legal penalties. There was a need to set regulations on blood money and compensations to do away with brokers from getting into the blood money business,” said the source. Najran Reconciliation and Pardoning Committee head Hussain Al-Hamad said a sub-committee has been formed to monitor blood money transactions. “In any case, we have never come across any exaggerated amounts of money. The standard and known amount as blood money is actually among the lowest in comparison to other provinces. Most of the cases are inter-familial,” said Al-Hamad. He added there are many inter-familial murders and feuds in Najran. “Families dispute over land and property and the dispute can escalate to murder. During the past two years, however, there have only been 10 cases of murder in which the families requested blood money. The amount ranged between SR500,000 to SR8 million,” said Al-Hamad. He added there are blood money exchanges that are not reported to the committee. “These exchanges are unregulated and can reach up to SR30 million. The tribes of Najran have supported the new regulations and have even implemented penalties reaching up to SR250,000,” said Al-Hamad.