MADRID 13, (EUROPA PRESS)
A Jordanian accused of trafficking amphetamines in Saudi Arabia was executed this Sunday, the official Saudi news agency SPA announced, an act described by Amnesty International as a “cruel disregard for human life.”
The NGO has denounced that the executed man, the father of a six-year-old son and in prison in Saudi Arabia since 2015, was tortured and sentenced in an “unfair trial”, in addition to having been executed without notifying his relatives.
“The Saudi authorities continue to boast that new legislation protects human rights, but Hussein’s execution after an unfair trial exposes their failure to secure such guarantees,” said Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director. Heba Morayef.
Morayef has also called on Saudi Arabia to establish an official moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
In addition, it has accused the authorities of holding Hussein incommunicado throughout his arrest, denying him legal advice and ignoring complaints about torture to extract a confession, and urges Saudi Arabia to hand over Hussein’s body to his family for a “dignified burial”
Hussein, 57, was arrested in 2014 for drug trafficking, and was sentenced to death the following year.
His execution contravenes the decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found evidence that his case was being arbitrary and called for his “unconditional and immediate” release.
Since March 1, 2023, Saudi Arabia has executed eleven people accused of terrorism, murder, rape, kidnapping and drug trafficking.
