Saudi court overturns death sentence for man convicted as minor; retrial to follow

DUBAI, Nov. 11 (Reuters) – A Saudi court overturned a death penalty charge for a young man after human rights groups called a “grossly unfair trial” for crimes he committed as a minor, his family said Wednesday with.

“The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia overturned the verdict on behalf of my youngest son, Abdullah al-Huwaiti,” his mother wrote on Twitter, thanking everyone who stood by her.

Saudi law requires his case to be retried now, anti-death penalty charity Reprieve said.

Although he is no longer facing immediate execution, Huwaiti could still be sentenced to death at a later date.

The government media service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Huwaiti was arrested at the age of 14 and sentenced to death three years later along with five other defendants for murder and armed robbery. Continue reading

Human Rights Watch and Reprieve said that all six of the defendants in his case told the court during the trial that the interrogators obtained their confessions through torture or threats of torture.

In 2020, the Saudi authorities abolished the death penalty for young people and announced that they would apply it retrospectively.

The kingdom’s state-backed Human Rights Commission later made it clear that the ban only applies to a lesser category of offenses under Islamic law known as “ta’zeer”. Continue reading

This means that under Saudi Arabia’s interpretation of Sharia law, judges can still sentence juvenile offenders to death: “houdoud” or serious crimes that carry a prescribed penalty, including terrorism, and “qisas” or retribution, usually for charges Murder.

Huwaiti was convicted of “houdoud” charges.

“We remain concerned for the life of Abdullah Al-Howaiti despite the ruling by the Supreme Court,” said Taha al-Hajji, a Saudi lawyer with the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights.

Last month, Ali Al-Nimr, a young Shiite Muslim whose death sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison as part of these legislative reforms, was released from prison. Continue reading

Reporting by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-court-overturns-death-sentence-man-convicted-minor-retrial-follow-2021-11-11/