Saudi Arabia yet to provide new info on two executed Bangladeshis

The Saudi Arabian government has yet to provide new information about the execution of two Bangladeshi nationals, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Friday.

She was speaking to journalists after the body of Bangladeshi worker Md Shahed Ahmed, who was killed in a missile attack at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, was handed over to his family.

Shama said around 7,500 Bangladeshis were being held in Saudi prisons and that the Bangladesh government was working on their cases.

“Over the past six months, the bodies of 11 Bangladeshis killed in conflicts in the Middle East have been brought home. Efforts are underway to repatriate the remaining bodies,” she said.

She also assured Shahed’s family that financial assistance from the government would be provided to them soon.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia executed two Bangladeshis, Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Suety Akhter (Sweety Akhtar, according to family), according to a confidential document sent by the Labour Welfare Wing of the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment on 18 October.

The document said Saudi authorities had not informed the Bangladesh embassy or consulate in advance about the executions. They had also not provided detailed information about the two individuals.

According to the document, the consulate had asked the Saudi foreign ministry for information about Bangladeshis detained in prisons across western Saudi Arabia. A list received on 30 September included the names of Nazrul and Sweety, but did not mention their sentences.

The two had reportedly worked as cleaners for a company named Al Majal in Saudi Arabia.

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The list showed that Nazrul was detained on 1 August 2023 on allegations of information technology-related offences, while Sweety was arrested the following day on an adultery charge. Nazrul was held at Jeddah Correctional Facility, while Sweety was detained at Jeddah Women’s Prison.

The consulate’s letter said the list contained no information about their sentences. It also noted that there had been no known precedent of Bangladeshis being sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for information technology-related offences or adultery.

The document further said 306 Bangladeshis were being held in prisons in western Saudi Arabia in connection with various morality-related cases. Of them, 147 had received sentences ranging from one month to 15 years in prison.