Saudi govt releases Shia prisoner who was sentenced to death

Riyadh : The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has released a Shia Muslim man who was arrested as a minor and was facing a death sentence, according to human rights organizations.
London-based human rights organization ALQST announced on Twitter on Friday, “The release of Murtaja Qureiris, who is considered the youngest prisoner in Saudi Arabia at the time of his arrest in 2014, at the age of 13, for participating in protests against the authorities.” Also Read Amnesty calls on Saudi Arabia to halt execution of two Bahraini men The organization added that Qureiris was facing the death penalty and “was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison on charges including participating in protests at the age of ten.” And considering that “the arrest of Qureiris should not have happened.” Murtaja Qureiris, detained since 2014 when he was only 13, has been released following the expiry of his sentence. Qureiris had been at risk of the death penalty, and was later sentenced to eight years on charges including participating in protests at the age of 10. #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/Np5nQhRjQb — ALQST for Human Rights (@ALQST_En) June 24, 2022 Commenting on the news of the release, Amnesty International in the Gulf wrote, “We are happy for Murtaja and his family.” https://twitter.com/amnestygulf/status/1540293225663143936?t=__zTy-x7qjxiwRxUPoQ05Q&s=19 Lina Al-Hathloul, the sister of the former detained Saudi activist, Loujain Al-Hathloul, wrote, “Murtaja was arrested when he was a child, and he is now released after he was sentenced to death and the sentence was commuted. The photo before and after kills me.” Lina was referring to a picture showing Murtaja when he was arrested, as a child and another showed him a young man and his features had changed a lot.