The fastest death sentence: Saudi Arabia rules to kill al-Ghamdi over social media postings

On July 10, 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi to death by Taazir, on charges related to his expression of opinion and his use of social media.

The verdict against Al-Ghamdi (September 24, 1968) perpetuates the bloody vengeful trend of Saudi Arabia, as arbitrary sentences, including killing and imprisonment for decades, have intensified in recent years, against the exercising of legitimate rights or non-serious charges.

It also confirms the political use of the death penalty that has become apparent since the mass execution in January 2016 and the executions that followed.

The verdict was issued within a period of no more than a month and a half, as the fastest death sentence.

The case was referred to court on May 28, 2023, and the verdict was issued on July 10, 2023. This proves the sham trial and deprives him of taking enough time to present a legal defence.

Al-Ghamdi was arrested on June 12, 2022, and he is the brother of cleric Saeed al-Ghamdi, who opposes and criticizes the Saudi government. He was charged with:

Betrayal of his religion, his country and the rulers, and insulting them and the members of the Council of Senior Scholars and security men
Challenge the religion and justice of the King and the Crown Prince
Supporting terrorist ideology and praising terrorist collective symbols by following them and interacting with them on social media
Spreading false rumours
Using Twitter and YouTube to carry out the charges against him

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights indicates that the Public Prosecution based the accusations on two accounts he has on the Twitter platform and a channel on the YouTube platform.

The number of followers of his first account on Twitter is 8 and the second is 2, and he has no activity on YouTube to mention.

Saudi Arabia uses this method to exaggerate the charges and use the anti-terrorism law, to show that the accused committed serious terrorist acts, to ensure that society does not sympathize.

ESOHR explains that the judges of the Specialized Criminal Court did not care about the defence's indication that the accused suffers from mental and physical disorders and diseases, including psychosis, bipolar disorder, and delusional disorder, which had also been diagnosed by a specialist in Al-Dhaban prison, where Al-Ghamdi is being held.

According to the monitoring of ESOHR, the verdict against Al-Ghamdi raises the number of those threatened with death by Taazir punishment to at least 61, including 8 minors. They face charges that are not considered among the most serious in international law, which are limited to premeditated murder. Ta’zir rulings are at the discretion of judges, and death sentences issued under them depend on a rare and strict interpretation that most Islamic schools do not follow.

This confirms the falsity of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's promises.

In April 2018, a year after he seized power, he said in an interview with Time magazine: "We have tried to reduce the death penalty, there are some areas that we can change and reduce from execution to life imprisonment. We will not reduce the death penalty by 100%, but we will reduce it significantly." He also refuted his claims on March 3, 2022, in an interview with The Atlantic newspaper, when he said that the death penalty is now "limited to cases in which someone kills another person."

ESOHR believes that the ruling against Al-Ghamdi, in addition to the number of sentences executed since the beginning of 2023, exceeded 92 sentences.

The number of executions since King Salman bin Abdulaziz came to power in January 2015 has exceeded 1,100, which clearly reveals the bloody face of Saudi Arabia that it is trying to hide with sports washing and celebrations.

Source: esohr.org, Staff, August 29, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

CONTACT: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Tibetan protesters executed for Lhasa riot killings

Tibetan exiles have reported the first executions of those convicted for rioting last year in Lhasa, with at least two people put to death in a rare implementation of capital punishment in the restive region. Two Tibetans convicted of arson and sentenced to death in April were executed on Tuesday morning in Lhasa, reported The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, which is based in the Indian town of Dharamsala—the home in exile of the Dalai Lama. It said that Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak had been sentenced to death for their part in setting fire to five shops in the Tibetan capital, killing seven people, in the riot that rocked Lhasa in March last year. Officials say that 21 people — including three Tibetan protesters — died in the violence, which embarrassed Beijing just as it was preparing to stage the Olympic Games and prompted a security crackdown across the Himalayan region. The body of Mr. Gyaltsen had been returned to his family and then submitted to a river burial—an un...

Iran: Delara Darabi has now been scheduled for execution

Delara Darabi has now been scheduled for execution, according to the Iranian newspaper Etemad on 18 April, according to another source on 20 April. She was convicted of murdering a relative when she was 17. Unless the Judiciary intervenes, she can now escape execution only if the woman’s entire family accept payment of diyeh, or blood money. One of the familly is said to be undecided. Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern that Delara Darabi is in imminent danger of execution for a crime committed when she was under 18; - calling on the authorities to halt the execution of Delara Darabi immediately, and commute her death sentence; - reminding the authorities that Iran is a state part...

Florida | Former prison warden who oversaw executions urges corrections workers to not participate in them

Recently Florida carried out the execution of Dusty Spencer , a 74-year-old Marine veteran, for the murder of his wife, Karen, in 1992. It was the ninth Florida execution this year. For their own sake, I urge Florida’s corrections workers to refuse to carry out another one. Before you dismiss me as some soft lefty, you should know that I am an Air Force veteran. I voted for Ron DeSantis for governor twice—and for Donald Trump for president three times.

Iran: Prisoner of conscience Mohsen Amir Aslani hanged for ‘different interpretation of Quran’

Mohsen Amir Aslani NCRI - The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, as well as all international human rights organizations to strongly condemn the execution of prisoner of conscience Mr Mohsen Amir Aslani on charges of “corruption on earth; changing Islam’s principles and secondary laws; and new interpretation of Quran”. It further calls for adoption of binding decisions against the growing number of arbitrary executions by the religious fascism ruling Iran. Mr. Amir Aslani, 37, who had been in prison since eight years ago, was once sentenced to four years in prison which was later commuted to twenty-eight months. However, as more fabricated charges were brought against him, the head henchman Judge Salavati condemned him to death. The Iranian regime has refraining from handing over the body of this prisoner to his family through stonewalling and offering contradictory answers to them. The execution...

Iraq: Saddam Hussein Execution was Moved Forward Because of Gaddafi Rescue Plans, Judge Says

Saddam Hussein's execution on December 30, 2006 The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was accelerated due to the belief that the then Libyan leader, Muammar El-Gaddafi, had a plan to rescue him from prison, Judge Mounir Haddad revealed today. Hadad, who presided over the trial of Hussein, revealed to the Al-Arabiya Satellite Channel Point of Order program new details of the trial against the former president and his last moments before being hanged, including the 'health and welfare' votes for the magistrate himself . According to his testimony, the application of the death penalty to Saddam Hussein was precipitated because authorities knew that El-Gaddafi - later murdered in 2011 - was allegedly trying to bribe US guards who guarded him to rescue him from prison. He added that, contrary to previous reports from the local and US press, former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave his 'implicit approval' for Hussein's execution, an...

Tennessee Reduced Training in IV Placement in New Lethal Injection Protocol

The protocol that took effect in 2025 sheds new light on Tony Carruthers’ botched execution, when Dr. Mark Fowler spent nearly an hour trying, and failing, to place a secondary IV line Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol adopted a year and a half ago appears to include reduced training in IV placement. That’s the part of the process prison staff failed to complete last month before aborting the execution of Tony Carruthers. Filings from ongoing litigation over the protocol show concerns about the executioners’ training and qualifications aren’t new.

Halfway through the year, Saudi Arabia has already executed nearly 100 people

Almost 100 people executed so far this year as dozens more remain on death row for drug-related offences Saudi Arabian authorities have executed nearly 100 people so far this year, including at least 61 for drug-related offences, the latest of which was on 18 June. In response, Dana Ahmed, Middle East Researcher at Amnesty International, said today: “It is halfway through the year and Saudi Arabia has executed nearly 100 people, a grim milestone exposing the authorities’ unconscionable and unlawful use of the death penalty. Of the 96 people put to death already in 2026, an astounding 61 were executed for drug-related offences; 39 of them were foreign nationals and 22 Saudi nationals.

U.S. | Lethal injections are more likely to be botched, experts say

Tony Carruthers, a Memphis man on death row, is one of hundreds of people in the U.S. whose executions did not go as planned When the Tennessee Department of Corrections botched Tony Carruthers’ execution, it wasn’t surprising to Austin Sarat. He’s been researching and writing about “state killings” for decades. “Of all of the methods of execution used in the United States over the last 140 years, lethal injection has the highest rate of being botched,” said Sarat, a professor of law and politics at Amherst College. He said an execution is botched when it deviates from standard operating procedure or official legal protocol.

Florida executes Dusty Ray Spencer

74-year-old man becomes oldest inmate executed in modern Florida history A 74-year-old man convicted of fatally stabbing his wife became the oldest person executed in Florida’s modern history on Thursday, and the state is scheduled to execute another 74-year-old inmate next month. Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Spencer was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of his wife Karen.

As Idaho Reinstates Firing Squad, Volunteers Sought for Executions

The state becomes the first in the U.S. to make the firing squad the standard method of capital punishment Idaho is opening a new phase in the administration of capital punishment in the United States, returning to the firing squad as the default method of execution. The decision reintroduces a system that has been abolished or abandoned in most of the country and is now being reorganized through a formal and highly structured framework. The new death penalty protocol State authorities have begun recruiting volunteer law enforcement officers to take part in executions. The operational model includes three primary shooters assigned to carry out the execution, two alternates, and one operations coordinator. All participants will remain anonymous, known only to the prison warden and deputy warden.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog