Trump remains silent on 14 imminent executions in Saudi Arabia

Source: Think Progress

With the fate of 14 men facing execution in Saudi Arabia hanging in the balance, rights groups and anti-death penalty activists are pushing President Donald Trump to speak up.

All 14 defendants are Shia Muslims, an oppressed minority in Saudi Arabia, and were sentenced with the death penalty after being accused of terror-related activities that threaten national security, including killing of security forces and civilians during anti-government protests. But rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, point out that most of the convictions were based on problematic confessions that the defendants, most of whom are in their twenties, later rejected in court.

But despite pressure from activists, the Trump administration as so far remained silent on their plight.

Maya Foa, the director or UK-based rights group Reprieve, had harsh words for the president, telling ThinkProgress that Trump’s silence on the pending executions is “appalling,” and noted that one of the convicted, Mujtaba al-Sweikat, was a teenager at the time of his arrest. Al-Sweikat was bound for the United States where he hoped to study, but was arrested and sentence to execution by beheading for allegedly attending a protest.

Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/trump-silent-on-imminent-executions-in-saudi-91fd614fb33f/