The Saudi government killed Mustafa Hashim Al Darwish on 15 June 2021, who faced charges including to when he was a minor. The Official Human Rights Commission has confirmed, unofficially, that he is one of the minors covered by the Royal Order, which provides moratorium on executions of minors.
Saudi Press Agency published a statement in which it indicated that Al-Darwish was killed by Tazir sentence.
Al Darwish family had recently received information after months of interruption, that the case has been transferred from the Supreme Court to the Presidency of State Security. Saudi Arabia has committed its usual violations in the execution process, in which that the family was not informed and could not say goodbye to him. Al Darwish name is expected to be added to the list of victims whose bodies are still being held by Saudi Arabia.
Al Darwish was arrested in 2015 and charged with several counts, including charges date back to when he was a 17 -year- old minor, like participating in the shooting of security officers, and participating in demonstrations and gatherings, burning tires, covering up wanted persons, and storing what would disturb the country’s security on his phone. despite the lack of physical evidence against him and based on his confessions and the testimonies of other detainees who were documented to have been tortured to extract their confessions.
Al Darwish’s confessions were extracted under torture and he was sentenced based on these confessions despite his assertion of torture before a judge. Al Darwish was forbidden from having a lawyer and sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court on charges that are not considered the most serious.
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that the execution of Al Darwish is a clear message clear message that Saudi Arabia will continue to issue and implement death sentences against minors, despite promises and statements to stop it.
His execution, which is the 26 since the beginning of 2021, shows Saudi government insistence on carrying out executions, which threatens the lives of others who still in the death row.
ESOHR stresses that the Tazir execution of Mustafa Al Darwish shows the Saudi government’s insistence on issuing and implementing arbitrary death sentences through unfair judicial procedures, which raises the alarm over the lives of others.