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SAUDI ARABIA: SAUDI PROTESTOR MOHAMMAD LABBAD SENTENCED TO DEATH
March 24, 2025: The Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal (SCCA) on February 25, 2025 sentenced Saudi protestor Mohammad Labbad to the death penalty.
Mohammad Labbad is a resident of al-Awamiyah, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, and the brother of Jalal Labbad.
In 2011 and 2012, Mohammad Labbad allegedly participated in demonstrations and funerals that took place in al-Qatif district in Saudi Arabia protesting the treatment of Shi’a citizens.
After receiving a phone call from the Mabahith (General Investigation Directorate or GID) centre in Anak summoning him for interrogation. Prior to that call, Mohammad Labbad was never informed that he was accused of any crime.
He therefore decided to comply with the order to “surrender” himself, although he was certain that he did not commit any crime.
In the detention centre, he was initially misled by officials who informed him that he was only going to be detained for a few weeks as part of a procedure of “pardon”.
He was also advised to cooperate with authorities and sign any document he would be shown.
From that date, he was placed in detention in the Mabahith centre in Anak and was not allowed to speak to his family. He was allowed his first phone call on October 2, 2017 after much insisting. He was later transferred to Dammam Prison which is also overseen by the Mabahith and was placed in solitary confinement for five months and a half. During this period, he was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture.
On September 16, 2019, he was presented before the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) and presented with the list of charges against him. The charges concerned acts that relate to his freedom of expression and were based mainly on the counter-terrorism legal framework.
The SCC issued its first verdict on October 2, 2022, and sentenced Mohammad Labbad to the death penalty under ta’zir.
This verdict was confirmed by the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal (SCCA) on March 9, 2023. In August 2023, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the SCCA without any explanation.
On March 30, 2024, the SCCA upheld the sentence for the second time.
A few months later, the family was informed that the case of Mohammad Labbad was going to be retried, and his death sentence was suspended pending a new verdict.
A lengthy hearing took place on December 5, 2024, during which there was a heavy military presence. The Public Prosecutor presented a new list of charges, which turned out to be the same as the previous one.
They attended several hearings later and on February 25, 2025, the SCCA reached a verdict and sentenced Mohammad Labbad to the death penalty once again under ta’zir.
Mohammad Labbad was not appointed a lawyer until his first hearing before the SCC.
He is held in Dammam Prison to date. (Source: MENA, 19/03/2025)
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