DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Three young Saudi men who faced the death penalty for acts they were accused of committing as minors were sentenced to a 10-year prison term, the Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission said.
Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoun and Abdullah al-Zaher, young people from Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, were detained separately on charges stemming from their participation in Shiite protests against the government against discrimination that shook the country’s eastern province in 2011 -2012.
Al-Nimr, nephew of prominent opposition cleric Shiekh Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution sparked Shiite demonstrations from Bahrain to Pakistan, was arrested in 2012 at the age of 17, according to Human Rights Watch. He was sentenced to death by the Riyadh Specialized Criminal Court, which handles terrorism trials.
Al-Marhoun was 17 and al-Zaher 15 when they were swept up in the government’s crackdown on Shia protests and denied access to lawyers during their protracted pre-trial detention, the New York watchdog previously reported.
The court will give credit for the time served, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced, setting the date for the release of the three men to 2022.
Al-Nimr’s father, Mohammed, welcomed the news on Twitter, describing the change in the phrase as a direct order from 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 an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, with the possible exception of crimes related to terrorism. The royal decree establishes a maximum sentence of 10 years in a juvenile detention center for anyone convicted of a crime committed while a minor. It orders prosecutors to review cases and withdraw punishments for those who have already served time.
Human rights groups that have long pressured the kingdom to abolish the death penalty, especially for crimes committed by minors, praised the decree, but expressed concern about its application.
“This is great news for Ali, who spent more than nine years on death row,” said Reprieve, a civil rights group that opposes the death penalty. “But other young people like Ali still face the death penalty for child ‘crimes’ in Saudi Arabia. The Royal Decree must be applied urgently in such cases. “
King Salman’s son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the driving force behind the kingdom’s efforts to loosen restrictions, modernize the country and move away from an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law known as Wahhabism, which many Saudis still have. practice.
Long ago one of the most prolific executioners in the world, Saudi Arabia announced last month that executions fell 85% in 2020 because of legal changes that suspended death sentences for nonviolent drug-related crimes. The kingdom also ordered judges to end the controversial practice of public whipping, replacing it with imprisonment, fines or community service.