DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Three young Saudi men who were sentenced to death for acts accused of being minors have instead been sentenced to 10 years in prison, the Saudi Human Rights Commission said.
Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoun and Abdullah al-Zaher, Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority youth, were separately detained on charges of participating in Shia anti-government protests for discriminating against the country’s eastern province in 2011- 2012 turned upside down.
Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent opposition leader Shiekh Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution sparked Shia 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 Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, which deals with terror trials.
Al-Marhoun was 17 and al-Zaher was 15 when they were swept up in the government crackdown on Shia protests and denied access to lawyers during their lengthy pre-trial detention, the New York-based watchdog previously reported.
The court would credit the time paid, Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission announced, setting the release date of all three men for 2022.
Al-Nimr’s father Mohammed welcomed the news on Twitter, describing the change in sentence as a direct order from King Salman. The government communications office did not respond to a request for comment.
The move comes nearly a year after Saudi Arabia ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, with the possible exception of terrorism-related crimes. The Royal Decree establishes a maximum sentence of 10 years in a juvenile detention center for anyone convicted of a crime committed while underage. It orders prosecutors to review cases and drop sentences for those who have already served that time.
Human rights groups that have long urged the kingdom to abolish the death penalty, especially for crimes committed by minors, have praised the decree but expressed concern about its enforcement.
“This is great news for Ali, who has spent more than nine years on death row,” said Reprieve, a civil rights organization that opposes the death penalty. But other young people like Ali are still facing the death penalty for child crimes in Saudi Arabia. In such cases, the Royal Decree must be applied urgently. “
King Salman’s son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the driving force behind the kingdom’s efforts to relax restrictions, modernize the country and turn away from an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law known as the Wahhabism, which many Saudis still practice.
Saudi Arabia, long one of the world’s most prolific executioners, announced last month that executions have been dropped by 85% in 2020 due to legal changes ending the death penalty for non-violent drug-related crimes. The kingdom also ordered judges to end the controversial practice of public flogging and replace it with imprisonment, fines or community service.