Forty Minors Face Death Sentence in Saudi Arabia

By Staff

Forty Saudi minors are on death row inside the Saudi Kingdom for accusations of taking parts in peaceful protests in al-Qatif eastern province in 2011, despite the Saudi regime’s claims about cancelling the death sentence against minors, according to the Opinion Prisoners’ website.

Families of the detainees demanded urgent intervention to stop the death sentence against minors by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during his visit to Riyadh.

In the same respect, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights commented on this decree by saying: “A year ago, the Saudi government claimed that it has stopped killing minors, but today it executed Mustafa al-Darwish who faced charges directed at him while he was minor.”

In the last five years, Saudi Arabian authorities have repeatedly stated that they have abolished the death penalty for children, claiming that they would be sentenced to a maximum term of ten years in prison instead, which they would spend in the prisons for juveniles.

The Saudi authorities detained Mustafa al-Darwish for alleged charges while he was still 17 years old, which means he was a minor according to the legal doctrine, however, his execution once again revealed that the Kingdom’s claim to have eliminated capital punishment for childhood crimes is not true.