12 May 2008 :

the families of Syrian prisoners and inmates being held in Saudi Arabia staged a sit-in in front of the Saudi Embassy in Damascus for the third time. They demanded that the rulings issued against those prisoners be reviewed, especially the beheading sentences, especially following the execution of three Syrian nationals in similar cases. The demonstrators say that the sentences are disproportionate to their crimes. The mother of Syrian prisoner said “we have been here for five days because Saudi Arabia has begun carrying out beheadings. Charges relating to ecstasy pills are not punishable by a beheading sentence in Syria, Turkey, or any country in the world.” The families of the prisoners say that their sons are held under difficult conditions and that they cannot visit them in the Saudi prisons. The demonstrators called on the Syrian authorities to intervene with the Saudi authorities because, as they see it, the matter is political and related to the regional situation and the Syrian-Saudi relations.