Saudi Regime Executes Two Bahraini Activists After Eight Years of Detention

By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies

Saudi Arabia executed two Bahraini citizens, Sadiq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, for allegedly "joining a terrorist cell," the Saudi Interior Ministry claimed on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry alleged that "The cell is headed by a wanted security guard in the Kingdom of Bahrain" and it is "affiliated with terrorist entities that aim to destabilize the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain and spread chaos in them."

The two young men were claimed to have "smuggled materials and capsules used in explosives to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, buried the smuggled materials" in sandy areas, and "handed them over to the cell leader and covered up the places where the explosives are stored," in addition to "hidden personnel wanted by the Kingdom of Bahrain."

In January 2022, the Saudi Arabia Court of Appeal ratified the death sentence of Jaafar Sultan and Sadiq Thamer.

The two young men, from Dar Kulaib, were arrested on May 8, 2015, on King Fahd Causeway. Later, the Saudi authorities charged them with "preparing to blow up the bridge linking to Bahrain."

Sultan and Thamer denied the charges against them and considered them politically motivated, knowing that human rights organizations have documented that they were tortured by Saudi security forces to extract confessions during their arrest.

After Riyadh's decision, demonstrations took place in Dar Kulaib, a Bahraini village, rejecting "Saudi's unjust execution against the people of the village."

Death sentences are not carried out except with the approval of the Saudi King, after which the rulings are confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Riyadh executed more people in 2022 than the two previous combined, 81 of which were executed in a single day last March, "the largest mass execution in Saudi Arabia's history," said the European Saudi Human Rights organization ESOHR in a report published in January.

According to the organization, death penalty sentences in the Kingdom between 2020 and 2022 hiked by 444% as the Gulf country continues with its "arbitrariness in issuing sentences, contradicting official promises, in parallel with complete disregard for international recommendations and criticism."

A group of Bahraini scholars said that Sadiq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, executed by Saudi Arabia are "two of nation's martyrs," and offered "the warmest condolences and sympathy to the people of Bahrain, especially the honorable families of the martyrs."

In a joint statement after the sad news, the scholars said: "With hearts full of sadness and pain, we received the news of the execution of the two oppressed faithful youths, Sadiq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan," stressing that "Bahrain is sad and heartbroken by this great event."