Zeinab Abo al Jeir lives inthe “extreme terror”: his brother Hussein, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabiayou could be next in a wave of executions which have multiplied in recent weeks in the Gulf kingdom, under the recent mantle of Qatar football joy. And with the need to maintain. this Saturday, Robert Lewandowski’s winning streak against Poland.
After five months of not carrying out the death sentence, the Saudi authorities they executed 24 people since the beginning of October, the majority in the last two weeks, according to a count carried out by the AFP agency based on information from state media.
These people include 16 convicted in drug-related cases, what ends a moratorium of nearly two years in the application of capital punishment in these crimes.
“deeply regrettable”
The UN said so on Tuesday it was “deeply regrettable” this spate of executions, particularly for drug-related offences, noting that it was “incompatible” with international standards.
Hussein Abo al Jeir, a Jordanian citizen, has been on death row since 2015. The uncertainty about his fate has put his sister Zeinab and his entire family “under psychological pressure and in extreme terror”.
“we cannot contact you. We look forward to communicating with him. Sometimes we wait six months or more, which puts us under psychological pressure and extreme terror,” he says from Canada, where he lives.
death without warning
Except in cases of convicted murder, where the victims’ families are notified in advance, the authorities usually announce the executions once they have taken placeexplains Duaa Dhainy, a researcher at the Euro-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) in Germany.
According to this human rights activist, relatives often learn about executions through the media state, that they don’t always name names of prisoners Families “can’t even say goodbye to their loved one,” he explains.
At 57, Husein Abo al Jeir was arrested in 2014 on the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a private driver in Tabuk, a city in the north of the kingdom, explains his sister.
According to her and UK-based NGO Reprieve, he underwent torture for twelve days in which he did not have access to a lawyer before signing a document acknowledging his involvement in the drug trade. The AFP is unable to verify these claims.
Contact the Saudi authorities they didn’t answer to the questions of the AFP.
UN experts have considered that this is an arbitrary detention without a legal basis.
The week before, Hussein had contacted a relative in Jordan to announce that he had been moved to an area of Tabuk prison reserved for inmates. whose execution is imminent.
beheaded
“He is very scared, he is very sad and claims that he has been the victim of an injustice,” says his sister Zeinab. “He waits for the moment of his death, be beheaded with a saberafter an absolutely unfair trial,” he adds.
In all, there have been 144 executions in Saudi Arabia this year, according to AFP’s tally, more than double that of all of last year. In March, 81 people were executed in just one day accused in a terrorism case.
Even minors
The ESOHR organization is aware of another 54 cases of detainees, eight of them minors, who are on death row. But this figure is lower than the real one, says the NGO.
This was stated by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, de facto leader of Saudi Arabia the kingdom “did” the death penalty except in cases of murder or “risk for the lives of many people,” according to state media.
Another Jordanian, Adnan al Shraidah, has been detained since 2017 on charges of attempting to smuggle more than 60,000 captagon pills, a synthetic drug of the amphetamine family widespread in the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia is its largest market.
According to one of his daughters who lives in Jordan, Adnan is “old” and “in very poor health”.
His family is deep in debt as his father was the sole lender. “I would like Saudi Arabia to give a second chance to those who have not been convicted of acts of violence and have pity on their families.”
With information from AFP
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.