RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday publicly executed seven men convicted of thefts, looting and armed robberies, despite appeals for clemency by UN experts and human rights groups.
The Saudi interior ministry said the men were executed by a firing squad “as a punishment to them and to deter others” from carrying out similar crimes.
On Tuesday, a group of UN independent experts urged the Saudi authorities not to proceed with the executions.
Similarly, numerous human rights groups had appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt their sentences because the men were juveniles when they were arrested. Amnesty International had called the execution “sheer brutality.”
The seven were sentenced to death in 2009 after being found guilty of “forming a gang that carried out several armed robberies and thefts with the help of other people” in 2005 when they were less than 18 years of age.
The execution was “implemented a while ago at a public square in Abha,” where the defendants were “shot dead,” not beheaded as is customary for executions in the kingdom, a witness said.
The convicted men were to be executed a week ago, on March 5, but Saudi King Abdullah’s eldest son reportedly ordered a one-month postponement, promising new investigation.
The case came into the spotlight after one of the convicts managed to contact media and claimed he was tortured and threatened into confessing.
“I killed no one. I didn’t have weapons while robbing the store, but the police tortured me, beat me up and threatened to assault my mother to extract confessions that I had a weapon with me while I was only 15,” Nasser al-Qahtani told media.
“We don’t deserve death,” he added, implying that other members of the convicted group have a similar story to tell.
DND
