The General Medical Committee in Jeddah said it has not received any directives to reexamine Saud Safar Al-Zahrani, a prisoner who has suffered total paralysis while serving a 15-year prison sentence. The committee says that it still stands by its previous report that the prisoner's condition is curable despite other medical reports contradicting that diagnosis. Meanwhile, the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution (CIP) and the Prisons Administration in Jeddah are awaiting the results of the report diagnosing Al-Zahrani in order to look into the possibility of releasing him on the basis of having an incurable disease. The Bureau for Supervision of Prisons at the CIP in Jeddah has sent a letter enquiring whether the Regulation for Release due to an incurable health condition applies in Al-Zahrani's case. The Office of the Governor of Jeddah asked that the case be re-studied after receiving a petition from the prisoner's mother urging his release. The CIP formed a committee to look into the case of Al-Zahrani when he became disabled after developing a case of tuberculosis in the vertebral column while in prison. The committee is charged with reviewing the contradictory medical reports. In addition, in its letter to the Prisons Administration and King Fahd General, King Saud and Mental Health hospitals, the Bureau for Supervision of Prisons and Execution of Verdicts at the CIP asked these bodies to send it detailed reports on the case and whether there is a possibility of the prisoner's recovery. A medical report of the General Medical Committee in Jeddah blocked the decision to release him despite the existence of other reports by doctors in government hospitals confirming that Al-Zahrani has to be released, as he is totally paralyzed. The prisoner's mother approached the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) and Human Rights Commission (HRC) demanding an investigation into the reasons for the contradictory medical reports. She appealed to the concerned authorities to form a fact finding committee to investigate his health condition. Al-Zahrani was sentenced to prison 15 years ago charged with killing his brother who went missing at that time and has never been found - dead or alive. The same charges were leveled against his brother's wife and her brother, who are still behind bars. Speaking on this case, Ahmad, 23, the son of the man who went missing, said, “My mother, maternal uncle and uncle (Saud) were accused of killing my father 15 years ago but his body has never been found. I'm confident that they are innocent despite the issuance of death sentences against the them. My uncle, Saud, is now paralyzed, my mother is suffering from a very bad psychiatric condition and my maternal uncle has been afflicted with high blood pressure, diabetes and several other diseases. All of those who stand to inherit from my missing father have dropped their demand for capital punishment.”
