Saudi Arabia to behead teenage boy over participation in protest

Saudi Arabia is about to execute a teenage boy for attending a protest rally

Saudi Arabia is about to execute a teenage boy for attending a protest rally against the ruling Al Saud monarchy as part of a heavy-handed crackdown on dissidents, a rights group says.

Abdullah al-Zaher, who is a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shia religious community, was just aged 15 when he was arrested after participating in the protest in March 2012, campaign group Reprieve has told the British daily, The Independent. 

Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Zaher to death by beheading in October 2014, and his sentence was upheld last September with no notice given to his family or lawyer, it said.

Reprieve said Zaher, now 19 years old, has been moved to a prison 1,000 kilometers away from his family, and is to be executed along with 51 other people any day. 

Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia executed 102 people in the first six months of this year.

Muslim scholars and clerics have on various occasions criticized Saudi authorities for indicting and then executing suspects without giving them a chance to defend themselves.