Updated June 16th, 2021 at 22:27 IST
Saudi Arabia: Mustafa al Darwish tortured, executed for 'offenses' he committed in teenage
Saudi Arabian authorities have executed a 26-year-old man for his alleged involvement in an anti-government protest during his teenage, human rights group said.
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Saudi Arabian authorities have executed a 26-year-old man for his alleged involvement in an anti-government protest during his teenage, human rights group Reprieve said on June 16. According to the UK based organisation, Mustafa al-Darwish was arrested in May 2015 after he was charged with offences related to his participation in anti-monarchy demonstrations. However, Reprieve noted that many of those participations dated back to when he was 17 years old.
According to the non-profit organisation, al-Darwish was not only kept in solitary confinement post his detention was tortured into confessing the charges against him. “He was beaten so badly that he lost consciousness several times. To make the torture stop, he confessed to the charges against him," Reprieve said. Al-Darwish recanted his confession at his trial, explaining to the court that he had been tortured, but he was still sentenced to death, Reprieve further asserted.
Last year, the International Human Rights organisation Amnesty International had called for his execution to be halted. In a statement, the UK based organisation had asserted that al-Darwish was the “latest victim of Saudi Arabia's deeply flawed justice system which regularly sees people sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials based on confessions extracted through torture." Despite that, his execution continued and was confirmed earlier this week by the kingdom’s Ministry of Interior.
'Not notified about execution: Family'
Meanwhile, al-Darwish’s family told media reporters that they weren’t notified of his execution and only learned about it after news broke out. Asserting that the young man’s execution is “living death” for his relatives, the family said that it was a picture on his phone that offended the law enforcers and subsequently led to his detention.
According to his relatives, al-Darwish was initially detained six years ago along with two of his friends but released. However, the police kept his phone. Later, they found a photograph on his phone, following which they called him back to collect his gadget. However, instead of returning his phone, they locked him in prison.
"How can they execute a boy because of a photograph on his phone?" the family said in a statement through Reprieve. "Since his arrest, we have known nothing but pain."
Image: Reprieve
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Published June 16th, 2021 at 22:27 IST