Rights groups say al-Manasif’s death sentence upheld — The Guardian
Human rights groups reported that Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against Youssef al-Manasif. The young man faces execution for actions that, according to Saudi authorities, he committed between the ages of 15 and 17, The Guardian reports.
Charges and sentence
Al-Manasif was arrested in 2017. The charges brought against him included participating in demonstrations for the religious freedom of the Shiite minority and attending funerals that Saudi authorities consider protests.
The Specialized Criminal Court, a closed tribunal for terrorism-related cases, found al-Manasif guilty and sentenced him to death. According to the charity Reprieve, he was tortured and forced to sign a false confession. The organization also says that he first met with a state-appointed lawyer only in 2022 — five years after his arrest.
Human rights advocates believe that the Supreme Court’s decision may have been the last opportunity to avoid execution. Al-Manasif’s family has not commented publicly on the case because it may face persecution or arrest. Doaa Dhghaini, a consultant for Reprieve and the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, said that the family is now left only to wait.
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Death sentences for acts committed as minors
In 2020, Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree abolishing the death penalty for children, stating that people would not be sentenced to execution for crimes committed before adulthood. At the same time, the country continued to uphold death sentences in a number of cases involving defendants who were minors.
According to Reprieve, since 2015 Saudi Arabia has executed at least 17 people who were under 18 at the time of the alleged offenses. In April, the country executed Ali al-Subaiti and his uncle Mustafa al-Subaiti for non-lethal “terrorist” offenses. Ali al-Subaiti was 12 years old at the time of the alleged acts.
Independent UN experts had previously expressed concern about al-Manasif’s case and called on Saudi Arabia to immediately halt planned executions of people convicted of alleged offenses committed before the age of 18. Human Rights Watch said that executing al-Manasif for a nonviolent offense allegedly committed when he was a minor would represent an unacceptably low point for human rights protection.
