Saudis Insist 47 Executed Prisoners Had Fair Trials Without Sectarian Consideration

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By The Associated Press | ASSOCIATED PRESS | 12 minutes ago

Saudi Arabia's U.N. Mission insists the kingdom granted "fair and just trials" to 47 people who were executed last weekend, responding to concerns raised by the U.N. chief over the fairness of the judicial proceedings.

The Saudi mission, in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday, expressed "deep regret" at a statement from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman on Saturday saying opposition Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and a number of other prisoners executed were convicted after trials "that raised serious concerns over the nature of the charges and the fairness of the process."

The Saudi statement assured the U.N. chief of "the independence and impartiality of the judiciary authority." It said state-appointed lawyers were provided to some of the defendants, and that appeals in some of the cases took up to 10 years.

The statement said the final rulings against the 47 people executed were reached "based on their own criminal and illegal actions" without consideration of their intellectual, racial or sectarian background.

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