SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Reprieve's London office can be contacted on: communications [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140.,Reprieve US,, based in New York City, can be contacted on Katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org

Theresa May invites Saudi Crown Prince to London

Prime Minister Theresa May has invited the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to London, according to reports.

WASHINGTON

Prime Minister Theresa May has invited the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to London, according to reports.

Her visit comes amid a speeding up of executions in Saudi Arabia under the Crown Prince's leadership. Research by human rights organization Reprieve shows that 142 people were executed in Saudi Arabia this year. Around 70% of these executions were carried out after Mohammed bin Salman took power in June this year.

Reprieve has raised concerns for 14 political protesters whose death sentences were upheld over summer, and who face imminent execution. The 14 were convicted on the basis of 'confessions' extracted through torture. Among them is a disabled man, Munir al-Adam, and a juvenile, Mujtaba al-Sweikat. Mujtaba is one of six juveniles who face execution in the Kingdom on charges relating to protests.

The Crown Prince has also faced criticism over sweeping new counter-terrorism provisions signed in November.

Commenting, Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve, said:

"Theresa May has invited Mohammed bin Salman to Britain amid a wave of repression in Saudi Arabia. Despite the Crown Prince's rhetoric of reform, the reality is that on his watch, executions have sped up, dissent has been criminalised, and juvenile protesters are facing the swordsman's blade. The Prime Minister has talked about promoting British values in the wake of Brexit - she must show she means it, by calling on MBS to release juvenile protesters from death row."

Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.