On 17 October 2026, the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced the execution of Hassan Zaki Mohammed al-Faraj, sentenced for acts attributed to him as a minor, alongside four other political prisoners in the Eastern Province: Mohammed Munir Mohammed al-Zaher, Ali Abd Rab al-Hussein al-Sheikh, Reda Mohammed Ali Al Abu Abdullah, and Ali Hassan Ahmed Al Ribh. The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) had previously monitored their cases. All five were executed under discretionary, or ta’zir, death sentences.
Al-Faraj was sentenced to death for acts attributed to him during childhood, despite the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finding his detention arbitrary and calling for his release and compensation. His execution brings the number of people executed for acts allegedly committed as minors since King Salman assumed power in 2015 to at least 18.
The Ministry’s statement collectively accused the five political prisoners of joining an external terrorist organisation; firing at security personnel, premises and vehicles; possessing weapons and ammunition; and financing and supporting terrorist operations. It did not specify the acts attributed to each individual or allege intentional killing. The announced charges therefore fall outside the international threshold of the “most serious crimes”, which is restricted to crimes involving intentional killing.
Charges Relating to Childhood and Confessions Extracted Under Torture
Hassan Zaki al-Faraj was born on 19 April 1997 and arrested in 2017. The acts underlying his prosecution included participating in demonstrations, marches and the funerals of people killed during protests in Qatif. Documented participation dates back to 2011 and 2012, when he was approximately 14 and 15 years old.
Other charges included joining groups on mobile messaging applications, possessing prohibited images and weapons, joining a terrorist organisation, sheltering wanted individuals and assisting injured people. ESOHR documented his subjection to beatings and electric shocks, repeated hospitalisation, and coercion into signing confessions. He was also held in solitary confinement for approximately three months and denied access to a lawyer during his first three years in detention.
Disregard for the UN Opinion and Recent Appeal
In Opinion No. 71/2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention examined al-Faraj’s case alongside those of Jalal al-Labbad, Abdullah al-Derazi, Youssef al-Manasif and Jawad Qureiris. It found their detention arbitrary and called for their release and compensation.
Just eight days before his execution, UN experts again named Hassan Zaki al-Faraj in a joint statement issued on 9 October 2026 ahead of World Day Against the Death Penalty, highlighting cases in which the Working Group had previously found detention arbitrary. The experts called for a halt to executions, the release of the individuals concerned, and compensation and reparations for victims and the families of those executed.
With al-Faraj’s execution, Saudi Arabia has now executed three of the five individuals covered by Opinion No. 71/2024, following the executions of Jalal al-Labbad on 21 August 2025 and Abdullah al-Derazi on 20 October 2025. Youssef al-Manasif and Jawad Qureiris remain at risk of execution.
This follows the execution of Ali Hassan al-Subaiti on 9 April 2026 for charges that included acts attributed to him during childhood, demonstrating the continued execution of people convicted of alleged offences committed as minors, despite official Saudi promises to end the practice.
ESOHR stresses that Hassan Zaki al-Faraj’s execution, days after the UN appeal for his protection, demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s determination to continue executing people for acts attributed to them during childhood and its disregard for UN mechanisms. It also heightens fears for Youssef al-Manasif, Jawad Qureiris and others facing execution.
The execution of Hassan Zaki al-Faraj under a discretionary sentence for acts attributed to him as a minor constitutes a flagrant violation of the Juvenile Law and directly contradicts official promises to end the execution of minors.
ESOHR considers the execution of these five political prisoners a dangerous escalation in the use of the death penalty as a tool of repression under the guise of counter-terrorism. It exposes a reality in which allegations of torture and unfair trials are met with further executions, stripping official promises of reform of any substance.