A family friend of a Canadian man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia is calling on the Canadian government to take action on his behalf.

Mohamed Kohail, 23, was convicted for murder after Syrian youth Munzer Haraki was killed on Jan. 13, 2007 in a schoolyard brawl at Jeddah's Edugates International School where his brother Sultan was a student.

Haraki died from internal injuries.

Kohail is sentenced to public beheading by sword, but his family and friends are pushing for his life to be spared, claiming he was not given a fair trial.

Rana Saheb, a family friend, told CTV's Canada AM that the court spent no more than 90 minutes on Kohail's case and his lawyer was only allowed into the courtroom for five minutes during the trial. And witnesses that were slated to speak on Kohail's behalf were not allowed into the court.

"I don't know if anyone considers that a fair court trial, but that's the reason we're fighting for this because he should not be getting a death sentence," Saheb said.

Kohail's brother Sultan has also been convicted, and will be sentenced in early April, Saheb said.

The defence lawyers plan to appeal the conviction, but are asking the federal government to also lobby on Kohail's behalf.

"We have from six to eight weeks after the appeal being sent in to wait for a decision from the Saudi Arabia officials. So I really hope the Canadian government can make a difference and take action on this because I mean this life is going to be on a death sentence."

Earlier in the month a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said the federal government would seek clemency for Kohail, following the instructions of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

On Sunday, several dozen people rallied on Kohail's behalf on Parliament Hill, despite the sub-zero temperatures. They urged the federal government to apply more pressure on Riyadh.

Canadian officials have visited the brothers in prison but Foreign Affairs says specifics of the case can not be discussed due to the privacy act.

However, Bernier and Secretary of State Helena Guergis are closely following the Kohail case.

"We are deeply disappointed at the verdict handed down by Saudi authorities," said Rodney Moore, a Foreign Affairs spokesman. "We are in close contact with the family and continue to provide consular services. The family continues to explore other legal avenues including an appeal of this verdict."

Forced confession

The brothers say they were beaten until they confessed to the murder of Haraki. Their father has also told reporters Sultan suffered a broken leg while in custody. Sultan, 16 at the time, had allegedly been threatened by a group of school peers after being accused of insulting a Syrian girl.

Mohamed and another friend came to the school to defend Sultan from the threats, which included a kidnapping threat.

Despite a cellphone video of the brawl obtained by The Globe and Mail, the exact events of the schoolyard altercation have yet to be determined. The minute-long grainy video shows approximately a dozen youths fighting as teachers unsuccessfully try to break up the brawl.

The brothers maintain they did not deliver the fatal blows to Hakari.

Mohamed and Sultan, Saudi-born Palestinians, emigrated with their parents to Montreal where they lived from 2000 to 2006 before returning to Jeddah when a family member became ill.

Saheb says Canada is the only country where the brothers have citizenship.