The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia has thrown out Abdullah al-Howaiti\u2019s conviction. Abdullah, who was arrested when he was 14 years old and sentenced to death three years later, is no longer at imminent risk of execution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His mother posted the news on Twitter, stating: \u201cBy the grace of Allah and with the efforts of the lawyer Abdulaziz al-Shamri, the Supreme Court overturned the judgement on behalf of my youngest son, Abdullah al-Howaiti. Thank you everyone who stood with me and supported me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under Saudi law, there must now be a retrial in the case. Reprieve is calling for the public prosecutor to withdraw its request for the death penalty in the case, and for Abdullah\u2019s torture-tainted \u2018confession\u2019 to be ruled inadmissible as evidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdullah was seized from his family home in Tabouk by police officers in May 2017, along with his brother, and accused of shooting a policeman during the robbery of a jewellery store. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were held incommunicado for four months, without access to a lawyer, and interrogated and tortured by police. Abdullah was whipped with electrical wire, beaten so badly he couldn\u2019t walk for days, and forced to participate in abuse of his brother. To make the pain stop he signed a false \u2018confession\u2019 to the crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 30 October 2019, the Criminal Court in Tabouk sentenced Abdullah to death. He was 17 years old. His \u2018confession\u2019 and the \u2018confessions\u2019 of his co-defendants, also obtained using torture, were the prime pieces of evidence against him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdullah told a judge that he had been tortured into confessing to the crime. His date of birth appears on the judgement, meaning that the judges knew he was only 14 at the time of the alleged offence. They sentenced him to death regardless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdullah also had an alibi, supported by the statements of his friends, his mother, and CCTV footage recorded in a court document: he was at the seafront playing football when the crime took place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In January 2021, the Court of Appeal in Tabouk rejected Abdullah\u2019s appeal and upheld the death sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve, said:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to show it is serious about abolishing the death penalty for childhood crimes. That this case even reached the Supreme Court shows how urgently real reform is needed: Abdullah was 14 years old at the time of the alleged offence and should never have been facing a death sentence. “Saudi authorities have claimed, many times, that they are eliminating capital punishment for juvenile offences. If those statements are to be trusted, the death penalty should be off the table in this case.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n