Saudi Arabia’s highest court has overturned the conviction of a Saudi man who was sentenced to death after a lower court found him guilty of robbing a jewelry store and killing a police officer when he was 14 years old, rights groups tracking the case said on Thursday.
The conviction of the man, Abdullah al-Huwaiti, in 2019 drew criticism from rights advocates who said that he had confessed under duress and that the kingdom was violating international conventions that ban executions for crimes committed by minors.
On Thursday, two rights groups, Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, issued statements confirming the court’s decision. The ruling was expected to prompt a retrial in a lower court, but it was not immediately clear whether the evidence against Mr. al-Huwaiti would be re-examined and if prosecutors would continue to seek the death penalty or ask for a lesser punishment.
Read the full story in The New York Times.
