On Sunday, 7 February 2021, the terrorism court in Riyadh, the Specialized Criminal Court, issued an alternative ruling to the death sentence against the minor demonstrator, Ali al-Nimr, sentencing him to ten years in prison. The sentence is the maximum possible punishment for minors in Saudi Arabia, according to the Juvenile Law of 2018.
The new sentence comes nine years after al-Nimr’s arrest as a minor, which the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has classified as an unlawful, arbitrary detention. His arrest took place on a mixture of charges, most of which were related to peaceful assembly and expression of opinion.
Al-Nimr was subjected to torture, ill treatment, and an unfair trial, and, on 27 May 2014, he was sentenced to a ta’zir [discretionary] death penalty. The sentence has caused an international wave of condemnation in recent years. In April 2020, a royal order leaked out on abolishing the death penalty against minors.
ESOHR stresses that the new sentence against Ali al-Nimr does not satisfy his right to justice, nor does it hold accountable those involved in the arrest and torture of minors to ensure they do not escape justice after years of oppression, criminal behavior, and unlawful arrests. ESOHR expresses its concern for the remaining minor detainees, especially those whose cases have not been covered by rights organizations or the media, thus enabling the Saudi government to make a mockery of the royal order or relevant laws, such as the Juvenile Law.
Ali al-Nimr is expected to be released after the Supreme Court ratifies the new ruling, within a period of no more than eight months. ESOHR emphasizes that the remedy for all minors in Saudi Arabia is to drop death sentences against them and guarantee all their rights, including the prevention of arbitrary arrest in the first place, fair trial guarantees, and protection from torture and ill treatment.