Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman claimed that Saudi Arabia has "eliminated" the death penalty, with the exception of one category mentioned in the Qur'an. His statement, which came in an interview with The Atlantic newspaper, came in light of dozens of death threats that includes minors.
The interview, which was published on 3 March 2022, contained many contradictions. While bin Salman considered that the death penalty is now limited to cases in which someone kills another person, and therefore the victim’s family has the right to go to court or pardon him, and in a twisted manner, he added: “If a person threatens the life of more than one person, this It means that he should be punished with death."
The laws in Saudi Arabia are generally characterized broad definitions and terms, so that they do not clearly and precisely define the charges, and use loose terms such as those used by bin Salman in the interview, which makes it easier for the government to use them against individuals, especially opponents and prisoners of conscience. With reference to the charge of "threatening the life of more than one person", as a charge worthy of murder, bin Salman keeps the door open for issuing and implementing death sentences based on the Saudi vision, concept and definition of these threats, which may be just opinions or positions. And the Saudi European Organization for Human Rights has previously monitored dozens of cases that Saudi Arabia dealt with as terrorist cases for activists because of their expression of their opinions and their exercise of their right of expression and criticism of the authority and corruption.
In addition, the Crown Prince said that in all governorates there is an administration working on the issue of the death penalty, and he also indicated that if the verdict is issued, there is a time and opportunity for the execution of the penalty to be abolished based on settlements. Bin Salman ignored in his answer, the fact that the courts are strict in issuing death sentences, in which many cases were issued in a form that does not accept waiver even in some cases in which there are no charges of premeditated murder and is represented in the issuance of Hudud and Gheelah sentences, and therefore it is not left to individuals who face the death penalty the option to be pardoned.
Bin Salman said that the only problem that Saudi Arabia is working to solve is to ensure that there is no penalty except by law, and he explained that there are a number of penalties that go back to the judge; Taazir sentences; and that there is an effort to stop these sentences during the next two or three years.
According to the monitoring of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, at least 44 detainees are currently facing the death penalty, on charges including participating in demonstrations or expressing opinion. Among these are the young man, Aqil Al-Faraj and Asaad Shuber, who are facing final sentences that may be carried out at any moment on charges that are not the most serious. In addition, the time limit given by bin Salman to stop the sentences that refers to the judge raises serious concerns for the lives of these and others that the Public Prosecution calls for their killing, such as Sheikh Hassan al-Maliki and Sheikh Salman al-Awda.
The organization stresses that the implementation of these Taazir sentences must be stopped permanently, instead of using this period to liquidate some of the personals that he wants to eliminate, which is an explicit and clear contradiction, especially with what bin Salman expressed his belief that these penalties are incorrect and the he will to stop them after two or three years.
Bin Salman said that the judicial system should ensure that individuals, even those who deserve punishment, have the right to defend themselves. Many detainees, according to the organization’s documentation, are subjected to torture and are deprived of their rights to communicate with the outside world or to obtain a lawyer. Despite their confirmation before judges of these violations, death sentences are issued against them, in the absence of any means of justice and accountability of the violators.
ESOHR believes that this interview with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has raised fears for the lives of individuals who are currently facing the death penalty. In addition, while Bin Salman tried to point to a series of reforms in the execution file, the interview showed the blatant flaws of the judicial system that underestimates lives so that death sentences are not frozen in light of discussing changing laws, and which allows killing based on the government’s interpretation of the crime, which is still struggling to securing terms of justice in trials.