Judiciary of Saudi Sentenced to Death a Minor Who Participated in Demonstrations
European
Saudi Society for Human Rights
23/06/2014
 |
| Ali AlNemer was 17 years when he was arrested |
The prosecution
procedure of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Saudi has been routinely
exceeding human rights standard to the point of threatening the detainee’s
life. This includes those who were arrested in regard of organizing and
participating in the peaceful demonstrations in the province of Qatif, eastern
of Saudi Arabia. Specifically, as Morse AlRebh’s case, who were killed last
year on 06/22/2013 by the security force’s live ammunition while he was
actively participating in a religious occasion preparation.
Detained since
14/02/2012, Ali Mohammed AlNemer, ran over by a police car and then arrested while
he was riding his motorcycle then he was taken to the Qatif police station. He
was badly injured due to the run over, broken nose; bruise on multiple body
area and soaked in blood, where they had to transfer him to
Enak city hospital in Qatif. This brutal arrest scenario was similarly done a
number of times by the Saudi authorities.
Born in 20/12/1994,
AlNemer was only 17 years and 2 months when he was arrested. In 27/05/2014 he
was sentenced to death on his sixth trials in the Special Criminal Court (SCC)
in Jeddah by three judges, Omar Abdul Aziz AlHesain; Abdullah Mohammed
AlRashoud and headed by Hamad Bandar AlTuwaijri.
He was then detained in
a Juvenile Detention Center, and contrary to the law which states that the
investigation should be done by the Bureau of Investigation and Public
Prosecution, four officers from the General Intelligence Prison done the
investigation with him. They even wrote down the investigation themselves
justifying this by saying that AlNemer’s handwriting is not clear enough. And
of course, the investigation report was bias to convict AlNemer, then he had to
fingerprint approve it after all and to acknowledge the charges in front the
judge, after being told his cooperation during the interrogation would help to
release him.
He was treated brutally
during the investigation in Qatif police center by a lieutenant (personal
information kept confidential by the European Saudi Society for Human Rights),
also in the Juvenile Detention Center, he was threatened by investigators (personal
information kept confidential) in order to confess. He has visible torture
marks due to their treatment, as swelling in the nose and lips, broken teeth
due as a result of the beating, kicking and slapping. His health deteriorated
with pain throughout his body and the lower abdomen, he each the point of blood
in urine. This coincided with insults and degrading treatment, including
religious insult.
AlNemer’s family was not
allowed to visit during the first three months, where he spent 40 days in
solitary confinement. And in the beginning of December 2013, after more than a
year and 10 months, he was transferred again to Qatif prison and then to the
General Intelligence Prison in Dammam until this time.
Some of AlNemer’s
charges, which obtained under forced confession, including:
-
Joining a terrorist cell, participating in
demonstrations and setting up a fire to some tires and containers.
-
Targeting the police station by throwing stones.
-
Targeting and burning a security patrol with Molotov
cocktails.
-
A pharmacy robbery.
-
Harboring a fugitive.
AlNemer knew about his
charges after the first secret session of his trial on 17/12/2013, disallowing him to have a lawyer nor
informing his family about the trial. His family found out through official
newspapers [1] ,
and then he called them two days after the trial asking them about the meaning
of (Hirabah [2]),
which he was not aware of and the prosecutor called for it.
After the start of the
trial, AlNemer’s family hired a lawyer, and then demanded the judge to allow
the lawyer to meet with AlNemer. Then the judge contacted the prison
administration more than once but no response, regardless, the judge decided to
proceed the prosecution. In the fifth session, specifically in 20/05/2014, the
judge refused to continue enabling the defendant to meet his lawyer’s request.
After 7 days, the judge sentenced AlNemer to death at the sixth session held in
May 27.
We in the European
Society Saudi for Human Rights (ESSHR) urgently demand the Saudi government the
following:
1. Abolish the death
penalty issued against AlNemer.
2. Immediate
release of AlNemer and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
3. Immediate ending
of torture in prisons, prosecuting responsible officials to a fair trials and
ending impunity.
4. Separation of
Public Prosecution Department from the Ministry of the Interior.
5. Reforming the
judiciary in accordance with the consistent state standards.
We in ESSHR call the international community to immediately intervene to
save AlNemer who was sentenced to death in an unfair trial, we also call for
the following:
1. Condemn the
death penalty against him, especially since it is an unfair trial.
2. Demand the Saudi
authorities to drop down politically motivated prosecutions and unconditionally
release all political prisoners.
3. Calling the
Saudi authorities to prosecute responsible officials in all cases of torture carried
out in detention centers in Saudi, especially in the Investigation prisons,
either through giving orders, supervision, or knowing about torture.
4. Demand the Saudi
government to comply with its commitments to international conventions.
[1] AlHayat Newspaper: “Demanding “Harabah
Penalty” to a “Twentyish” who targeted Security forces in Awamia” http://alhayat.com/Details/583207
Alwatan Newspaper: “12 charge against a promoter of
"riot" over the "BlackBerry" in Awamia” http://www.alwatan.com.sa/Local/News_Detail.aspx?ArticleID=171534&CategoryID=5
[2] Wikipedia: is an Arabic word for
“piracy”, or “unlawful warfare”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirabah
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