WORLD NEWS | Saudi Arabia executes 2 Bahraini men involved in militancy; Amnesty says trial ‘grossly unfair’

DUBAI, May 29 (AP) — Saudi Arabia said it executed two Bahraini men on Monday after they were convicted of belonging to a militant group that wanted to destabilize two Middle Eastern kingdoms. Amnesty International and other human rights groups have criticized their trials as grossly unfair.

The Saudi Interior Ministry announcement, reproduced by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, identified the two men as Jafar Sultan and Sadiq Thamer.

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The Saudi statement said the special criminal court ruled that the two men belonged to a militant group that spread chaos and smuggled explosives in Saudi Arabia. It said the group was led by a man wanted by Baharani authorities.

The statement did not name the group or their leaders, although Saudi Arabia had previously told the United Nations that the men had been sentenced in absentia to life in prison in Bahrain. They were also stripped of their citizenship.

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Saudi Arabia said the men were detained in May 2015 on the King Fahd Causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with 11 bags of RDX explosives weighing 38 kilograms, 50 detonating capsules and detonating cord.

However, Amnesty International criticized their trial and conviction in October 2021, adding that they also face charges of “participating in anti-government protests in Bahrain”.

“Jafar and Sadek were denied legal representation throughout their pretrial detention and interrogation,” the human rights group said in a May 2022 statement. “According to court documents, they told the court that they had been tortured.” , their – so-called confessions were taken under duress.”

The kingdom called the torture allegations “completely baseless,” even as other prisoners face torture in Saudi custody.

The executions took place in Saudi Arabia’s predominantly Shiite eastern province.

Bahrain, the Persian Gulf island nation across from Saudi Arabia, did not immediately acknowledge the execution. There has been low-level insurgency by militant groups since Bahrain cracked down on protesters during the Arab Spring in 2011. The video purportedly showed a small protest on Monday in the village where the two men live in Dar Kulaib, Bahrain.

Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei, director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, criticized the executions in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“The Saudi leadership believes that when they execute people who have been tortured, they are immune to any consequences,” Al Wadaei said in a statement. “The Bahraini regime is complicit in its failure to act to save the lives of its The Saudis gave the green light to go ahead and execute them.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the most executive countries in the world. It routinely beheads prisoners sentenced to death. (Associated Press)

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