DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Saudi Human Rights Commission has instead imposed a 10-year prison sentence on the Saudi Arabian Emirates (DA) for the death sentences for acts for which they are accused as minors.
Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoun and Abdullah al-Zaher, the youth of the Shiite Arab’s Shiite minority, have been detained separately on charges stemming from their participation in anti-government Shiite protests over discrimination affecting the country’s eastern province. in 2011-2012.
Al-Nimr, the cousin of prominent opposition cleric Shiekh Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution led to Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan, was arrested in 2012, according to Human Rights Watch. He was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, which handles terror trials.
Al-Marhoun was 17 and al-Zaher 15 when they were incited in the government’s action against Shiite protests, and access to lawyers was denied during their lengthy detention, the New York watchdog reported earlier.
The court would earn the time, the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia announced, setting the release date of all three men for 2022.
Al-Nimr’s father, Mohammed, welcomed the news on Twitter, describing the sentencing change as a direct order of King Salman. The government’s communications office did not respond to a request for comment.
The move comes almost a year after Saudi Arabia ordered the end of the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, with the possible exception of terrorism-related crimes. The royal decree sets a maximum sentence of ten years at a detention center for young people convicted of a crime committed while a minor. It orders prosecutors to review cases and drop penalties for those who have already served that time.
Human rights groups who have long pushed the kingdom to abolish the death penalty, especially for crimes committed by minors, praised the decision but expressed concern about its application.
“This is good news for Ali, who has spent more than nine years on the underworld,” said Reprieve, a civil rights group opposed to the death penalty. “But other young people like Ali are still facing the death penalty for ‘child crimes’ in Saudi Arabia. The royal decision must be applied urgently in those cases. ”
King Salman’s son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the force behind the kingdom’s efforts to weaken restrictions, modernize the country and turn away from an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law known as Wahhabism, which many Saudis always practice.
Saudi Arabia has long been one of the world’s most productive executions and announced last month that executions had dropped with 85% in 2020 due to legal changes that halted the death sentences for non-violent drug-related crimes. The kingdom also ordered judges to end the controversial practice of public flogging and replace it with imprisonment, fines, or community service.