Amnesty calls on Saudi authorities to eliminate the death penalty

SANAA, April 28 (YPA) – Amnesty International on Tuesday called on Saudi authorities to fully eliminate the death penalty against dissidents and activists in Kingdom.

The Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director, Heba Morayef said in a statement, Although the abolition of the death penalty for minors, “represents an important step for Saudi Arabia in the event of its implementation, the Saudi authorities’continued use of the death penalty is the highest shock,” as the kingdom recorded 184 executions during the last year.

The statement criticized the detention by the Saudi authorities against dozens of peaceful human rights activists, after they were convicted in strictly unfair trials merely for campaigning for equality and justice.

The organization said it would exert pressures against the Saudi authorities to commit to ending the outrageous patterns of human rights violations, amid a new wave of arbitrary arrests against activists and dissidents.

The Amnesty’s statement came following the Saudi authorities announced the abolition of the death penalty for persons under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.

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