The public prosecutor from Saudi Arabia is seeking the death penalty of five human rights activists, including one female rights defender Israa al-Ghomgham, a report from a prominent rights group said.
According to CNN, should the court ruling be granted, al-Ghomgham would be the first Saudi female activist to face capital punishment for charges related to human rights work.
In a statement released by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday, the five accused activists are charged with the following, and as quoted:
- Participating in protests in the Qatif region
- Incitement to protest
- Chanting slogans hostile to the regime
- Attempting to inflame public opinion
- Filming protests and publishing on social media
- Providing moral support to rioters
According to reports, Saudi authorities have been detaining the five activists, as well as with another which apparently is not facing the death penalty, for more than two years already. All of the accused were reportedly put in pre-trial without legal representation.
HRW went on to specify that al-Ghomgham and her company are due to appear in court this 28th of October.
Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW Middle East Director, told the press which was quoted over at BBC, that the execution is blatantly "appalling" and "monstrous," especially that the charges put on the accused were not even related to "violent behavior."
Whitson went on to fire words of criticism to the ruling Saudi monarchy with regards to its "unrestrained despotism." According to the HRW official, the situation that the rights groups are facing right now in the Kingdom is opposite to the spun "fairy tale of reform" stories made by the country's public relations.
In response, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, as well as ALQST - a non-profit human rights organization based in London, are now calling for the Saudi government to retract the charges and revert its decision to impose the capital punishment on Ms. Ghomgham.
KSA's communications office is yet to release a response to the issue.
Ms. Ghomgham, a Shia activist, is known for her active participation and the documentation of the mass demonstrations that took place in the country as early as 2011. The protests call for the end of the systematic discrimination the Saudi Shia citizens are facing in a nation where the majority of the population are Sunni Moslems.
The 29-year-old and her husband, Moussa al-Hashem, were both arrested in December 2015 and have been detained in a prison facility in Dammam.
