Urgent Action: HALT IMMINENT EXECUTION OF TWO BAHRAINI MEN (Saudi Arabia: UA 46.22)

Jaafar Mohammad Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer, two Bahraini Shi’a men, are at imminent risk of execution in Saudi Arabia. The Specialized Criminal Court sentenced them to death in October 2021 following a grossly unfair trial for terrorism-related charges, which include smuggling explosive materials into Saudi Arabia and participating in anti-government protests in Bahrain. In April 2022, the Supreme Court upheld their sentences, rendering their execution imminent as soon as the King ratifies it. Amnesty International calls on the Saudi authorities not to ratify the death sentence, quash their conviction and re-try them in line with international fair trial standards.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on July 18, 2022.
2. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
3. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 46.22. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

CONTACT INFORMATION

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SAMPLE LETTER Your Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Two Bahraini Shi’a men, Jaafar Mohammad Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer are at imminent risk of execution following the Supreme Court’s decision in April 2022 to uphold their death sentences, despite the defendants’ claims before the court that they had been subjected to severe beatings during their interrogations. The two men were convicted of a range of offences including: “Joining a terrorist entity … which aims to cause chaos and shake the security of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain”; “Participating in protests in Bahrain”; and smuggling bags of explosives to Saudi Arabia “with the aim of breaching Saudi Arabia’s security”. The Specialized Criminal Court sentenced both men to death in October 2021 after a prolonged and unfair trial which had begun in January 2019. The Appeals Court upheld their sentences in January 2022. Both men were detained incommunicado and in solitary confinement for three-and-a-half months following their arrest on May 8, 2015. They were only allowed to call their families 115 days later, during which time prison officials did not allow them to discuss their detention or interrogation conditions. Their families were allowed their first visit in October 2015. Jaafar Mohammad Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer had no access to legal representation throughout their pre-trial detention and interrogation. According to court documents, they told the court that they were tortured and that their so-called confessions were extracted under duress. Jaafar Mohammad Sultan also told the court that he was beaten with cables and threatened that he would not see his family until he signed the “confession” as formulated by the investigator. According to the court document detailing his defence, he was subsequently transferred to the prison hospital for 10 days due to the torture he endured. I urge you not to ratify the execution of Jaafar Mohammad Sultan and Sadeq Majeed Thamer, and to quash their conviction and death sentence, given the grave concerns about the fairness of their trial, and to order a re-trial in line with international fair trial standards, without recourse to the death penalty. Furthermore, I call on you to order a prompt, impartial, independent and effective investigation into their claims before the court of torture and ill-treatment and to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Sincerely, [YOUR NAME] ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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