Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph will be coordinating efforts to secure a pardon for Kerala native Nimisha Priya, a nurse who is facing the death penalty in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national. Nimisha has been in jail since 2020 under the charges of murdering Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, who died in July 2017 after Nimisha injected him with sedatives to get her passport that was in his possession.
Justice Joseph was approached for help by the 'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council,' which has been leading efforts to help Nimisha get out of the death row. Nimisha had appealed against the death row, saying that Talal had abused and tortured her and this was her last resort to get back to her family living in Kerala.
But with the courts in Yemen dismissing her appeals against the death penalty, the only way for Nimisha to escape is to gain pardon from the family of the deceased — by paying blood money to the family in accordance with the law of land.
Now, the Save Nimisha council feels that Nimisha did not get proper legal assistance in Yemen owing to the internal strife and war-like situation in Yemen. The council, therefore, has asked Justice Kurian Joseph to lead the efforts to save Nimisha from execution by holding talks with the family of the deceased Yemeni citizen Talal.
According to the council, a group that includes Nimisha's mother and daughter, will visit Yemen and try to meet with Talal's family and seek a pardon. Under the Shariat law, the legal heir of the deceased can be compensated and in turn, the death sentence can be commuted.
The 'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council' had asked the Union government to pursue legal remedies against the conviction in Yemen, provide consular assistance and interpreters as well as facilitate the travel of the convict's family. However, the Delhi High Court refused to direct the Union government to negotiate the payment of blood money, saying there was no merit in the plea made by the council.
The council had asked the Union government to facilitate diplomatic interventions, as well as negotiations, with the family of Talal to save Nimisha’s life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner.
The Union government counsel Anurag Ahluwalia had then told the court that while the authorities can initiate all legal actions in relation to the conviction and have not denied consular access, the government of India would not get into negotiations for blood money.