A young Saudi man sentenced to death for crimes committed as a minor has been hospitalized after starting a hunger strike, an NGO and his family said Saturday.
Read alsoSaudi Arabia: 81 people executed per day for crimes related to “terrorism”
In 2017, 14-year-old Abdullah al-Khowaiti was arrested and charged with armed robbery and murder of a police officer in the northern province of Tabuk. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to death for the second time after the Supreme Court overturned the original sentence handed down in 2019 and ordered a new trial. Five other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison for aiding and abetting.
British non-governmental organization Reprieve reported on Twitter that the young man was placed in solitary confinement. “Abdallah went on a hunger strike and was hospitalized after losing consciousness.” Last week, his mother tweeted that Abdullah al-Khowaiti had begun a hunger strike after being placed in solitary confinement.
The London-based human rights organization ALQST denounced the new death sentence as a “grossly unfair trial”.
The alleged facts “taken place when Khowiti was only 14 years old, which indicates that the Saudi authorities continue to apply the death penalty to minors,” she added.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia announced the abolition of the death penalty for those convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18.
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On Saturday, the ultra-conservative kingdom announced that it had executed 81 people in one day, the vast majority of them Saudis, on charges of crimes related to “terrorism”. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest prison enforcement rates in the world.