Saudi Arabia is set to bedhead a teenager for attending a protest wh
Abdullah al-Zaher, now 19, was arrested in March 2012 after attending protests and is said to have been beaten and then tortured into signing a confession without being allowed to read it or consult with his parents or a lawyer.
He faced a range of charges from ‘harbouring’ protesters, participating in demonstrations and chanting slogans, to ‘concealing the offence of incitement’, setting fire to a car, and throwing petrol bombs.
Zaher was sentenced to beheading in Saudi Arabia’s secretive Specialized Criminal Court in 2014 and his sentence was upheld this year, according to the human rights organisation, Reprieve.
The prosecutor requested that Zaher be crucified after he is beheaded.
Zaher is currently in solitary confinement awaiting execution, which it is feared could happen at any time.
His father, Hassan al-Zaher told The Guardian, ‘Please help me save my son from the imminent threat of death. He doesn’t deserve to die just because he participated in a protest rally.’
He went on to tell The Guardian that his son is popular and peaceful and that he went to the protests not really knowing what they were about.
‘He did not go there with the intention of fighting or opposing the government, in his eyes it was just a simple protest rally,’ he added.
Read More: Family of teenage Saudi protester sentenced to death appeal for his life
