Sunday 9 October 2011

Saudi Arabia executes 8 Bangladeshis
Saturday, 08/10/2011 -  by priyodesk
The Saudi authorities executed eight Bangladeshi workers on Friday (7th October, 2011) in the country’s capital Riyadh for their involvement in killing an Egyptian man. The men were convicted of robbing a warehouse and killing the Egyptian security guard, Hussein Saeed Mohammed Abdulkhaleq. “Yes, eight Bangladesh nationals were executed on Friday. They have been beheaded in public,” Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, second secretary (labour) of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh, told The Independent over telephone on Saturday. “The Saudi authorities buried them after the Asr prayer on Friday. This is the largest figure to be executed at one go in Saudi Arabia. The earlier largest number was three,” said the official.
The migrant workers, who were beheaded in public, were sentenced to death for the murder of the man in April 2007, according to the Amnesty International.
The executed are: Ma'mun Abdul Mannan, Faruq Jamal, Sumon Miah, Mohammed Sumon, Shafiq al-Islam, Mas'ud Shamsul Haque, Abu al-Hussain Ahmed and Mutir al-Rahman. 
Details of those executed are: Sumon Mia, S/o Milon Mia, Village-Kamarpur, Upazila-Pakundia, District-Kishoreganj, Sumon, S/o Abdul Hye, Village-Purboshuva, Upazila-Kalihati, District-Tangail, Mamun, S/o  Abdul Mannan Sarker, Village-Abdullah Para, Post-Choibari, Upazila and District- Tangail, Shafiqul Islam, S/o Khoajuddin, Village-Bhatkurar Chala, Post-Hoteya  Rajbari, Upazila-Sakhipur, District-Tangail, Faruque, S/o Jamal Uddin, Village and  Post-Poiyakandhi, Upazila-Daudkandi, District-Comoilla, Abu Hussain, S/o Ahmed Biswas, District-Faridpur, Motiar Rahman, S/o Shahid Khan, Village-Krishnonagor, PS-Kotoali, District-Faridpur and Masud, S/o Mr. Shamsul Hoque, Village-Purboshubha, Post-Kosturi Para, Upazilla-Kalihati, District-Tangail.
The Saudi authorities, as per the usual practice, had not informed the Embassy in advance, and in such cases bodies are not handed over to relatives. The embassy came to know of it after contacting the jail authorities, he said.
“The eight were told in the morning to get ready and they were executed after the Asr prayer. No permission is needed to bury the executed,” he (Mohammed Mizanur Rahman) added. This is the largest figure to be executed at one go in Saudi Arabia. The earlier largest number was three,” said the official. The Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh was preparing formal letters to be sent to the foreign ministry and the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry, who in turn would inform the relatives of the executed men.
Replying to a question, Mizanur said that after being convicted by the lower court, the accused, with the support of the embassy, had appealed before the higher court, but their appeal was dismissed. Even an appeal was lodged on behalf of the Bangladesh President seeking clemency, but that appeal was not taken into cognisance.
“The last hope was to earn the forgiveness of the murdered man's relatives in exchange for blood money. But they said they will not forgive the accused,” he added.
To another question, Mizanur said: “The families of the convicted are aware of the executions.”
Saudi Arabia, where religious police patrol shopping centers and cinemas are prohibited, enforces Islamic law. The kingdom usually beheads or sentences people to lashings for murder, rape and drug-smuggling. The Sunni Muslim-majority country and member of the Group of 20 nations has been criticized by international human rights groups. Two other Saudi nationals were executed in the northern city of Tabuk yesterday, bringing the total number of executions to 10, London-based Amnesty International said in a statement on its website yesterday.
According to a news posted on the AI website, the Egyptian man was killed during a clash between the Bangladeshi workers and a group of men who allegedly were stealing electric cable from a building complex where the Bangladeshis used to work.
Three other Bangladeshis were sentenced to prison terms and flogging for the murder.
Executions have resumed in Saudi Arabia at an alarming rate since the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, said the AI.
“Court proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall far short of international standards for fair trial and news of these recent multiple executions are deeply disturbing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa.
“The Saudi authorities appear to have increased the number of executions in recent months, a move that puts the country at odds with the worldwide trend against the death penalty.”
“The government must establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the Kingdom and commute all death sentences, with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely,” she added.
Friday's beheading of the Bangladeshi nationals brings the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 58, more than double than the 2010 figures. Twenty of those executed in 2011 were foreign nationals, the AI report said.
Many of those executed in Saudi Arabia in recent years have been foreign nationals, mostly migrant workers from poor and developing countries.
Defendants often have no defence lawyer and are unable to follow court proceedings in Arabic.
They are also rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in many cases are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them.
They, and many of the Saudi Arabians who are executed, also have no access to influential figures such as government authorities or heads of tribes, nor to money, both crucial factors in paying blood money or securing a pardon in murder cases.
Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences.
They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception.
At least 158 people, including 76 foreign nationals, were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007. In 2008 some 102 people, including almost 40 foreign nationals, were executed.
In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreign nationals and in 2010, at least 27 people were executed including six foreign nationals.
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