SHAFAQNA– Saudi Arabia has announced that it will not execute Shia prisoner Murtaja Qureiris who is believed to be the youngest political prisoner in the Arab kingdom.
According to Shafaqna, the decision was announced following fierce international pressure amid news that the Saudi military court would hand down death penalty to the 18-year-old man from the town of Awamiya, Eastern Province.
Reuters news agency reports Murtaja Qureiris’ verdict was issued recently and he is given 12 years imprisonment with the time served since his arrest. Four years of his term has been suspended jail due to his young age and he might be released in 2022. He can still appeal the verdict.
Murtaja Qureiris was arrested when he was only 13. Saudi terror court prosecutor had leveled charges against him from sowing sedition to belonging to an extremist terror group and violence allegedly happened during protests and funeral for his brother Ali Qureiris in 2011.
News about his possible death sentence prompted international outcry. Amnesty International confirmed that Saudi public prosecutor was seeking death punishment against him in August 2018, for charges committed when he was only 10 years old.
Austrian government also warned that it would shut down Vienna Center for Dialogue, a center founded and funded by Saudi Arabia, if the kingdom condemned the young Qureiris to death.
Source: Reuters
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