Amnesty calls to stop Saudi executions

Three foreign nationals convicted of drug-related offences in Saudi Arabia must not be executed, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. According to the human rights watchdog’s report, Ali Agirdas, a Turkish national, as well as Sheikh Mastan and Hamza Abu Bakir, both Indian nationals, may be executed at any time following their conviction for drug smuggling and drug possession. “The recent surge in executions in Saudi Arabia is a disturbing pattern, which puts the country at odds with the worldwide trend against the death penalty,” Amnesty quoted Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui as saying. “King Abdullah must halt the execution of these three men and all those on death row for drugs-related offences. Their sentences must be commuted and an immediate moratorium on executions should be imposed as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia,” she reportedly said. Ali Agirdas, aged 31, was arrested in February 2007 for smuggling drugs in Riyadh and was convicted and sentenced to death by a General Court in the capital in June the following year. His sentence is being considered by the Supreme Judicial Council, headed by the King. The council can approve his sentence at any time. Ali Agirdas did not have a lawyer or an interpreter during his interrogation and was only assisted by a lawyer during his appeal. “Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. The fact that Ali Agirdas did not receive the assistance of a lawyer during his trial before the General Court in Riyadh further highlights that capital punishment should be abolished,” Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui was quoted as saying. According to Amnesty report, Sheikh Mastan and Hamza Abu Bakir are currently detained in Al-Dammam prison in the country’s Eastern Province. They were arrested in January 2004 on charges of drug possession and sentenced to death by a court in al-Dammam in June 2006. Death sentences imposed for drugs-related offences do not fall into the category of “most serious crimes” embodied in international standards such as the UN Safeguards, the humanitarian organization also pointed out. Amnesty’s figures account for at least 356 people, including 162 foreign nationals, being executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities since 2007.