Bangladesh has asked Saudi Arabia to explain the execution of two of its nationals in Mecca on 14 October, saying its officials were not told beforehand.
A Bangladeshi man and woman were put to death after being convicted of an alleged “indecent act” inside a mosque, according to Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry. Saudi authorities have not publicly specified the exact nature of the offence.
Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shama Obaed Islam, said the government had sought an explanation of the offences and of the legal proceedings that led to the death sentences. Bangladeshi authorities said they learned of the executions only after they had been carried out.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry raised the matter directly with the Saudi ambassador in Dhaka on 18 October. It asked why its officials were not informed of the proceedings or of the executions.
According to Bangladeshi media reports, the two people appeared on a list of Bangladeshi prisoners that Saudi Arabia had given to the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah. The list reportedly did not show that they had been sentenced to death. The executions have caused concern in Bangladesh over why the government was not informed before the sentences were carried out.
Background
Saudi Arabia carried out the executions under ta’zir, a category of punishment under Islamic law in which judges have discretion to determine the penalty. In such cases the sentence depends on the judge’s ruling rather than on a fixed penalty set in advance, and the law does not always spell out the offence in the way many other legal systems do.
The case comes days after Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court overturned a death sentence imposed on a Sri Lankan national, Anojan Sivarasa, over a social media comment. The ruling followed diplomatic and legal intervention by Sri Lankan authorities.
Consular notification is governed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, an international treaty that sets out how states deal with each other’s nationals who are arrested or detained. Its rules are meant to let a government learn of a citizen’s detention and, where it chooses, arrange legal help.
What it means
Large numbers of Sri Lankans work in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, and many have little knowledge of the local legal system. Offences that may seem minor in Sri Lanka, including some related to speech, online posts and public conduct, can carry severe penalties there.
Sri Lankan workers can register with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) before leaving and keep the contact details of the Sri Lankan embassy or consulate in their host country. Families who lose contact with a relative abroad can approach the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the SLBFE for help in tracing the person and finding out whether any case has been filed.
