Bangladesh says Saudi executions came without prior notice

Bangladesh has asked Saudi Arabia for details of the offences and court proceedings involving two Bangladeshi citizens executed in Mecca on 14 October, after authorities in Dhaka said they learned of the executions only afterwards. BBC News, citing local reporting and official statements, reported that the Saudi interior ministry described the offence as an “indecent act” inside a mosque but did not explain what the act involved.

The executed citizens were a man and a woman. According to the Saudi ministry, both received death sentences under tazir, a category of punishment in Islamic law determined at a judge’s discretion. The ministry justified the sentences by citing the seriousness of the offence and the violation of the mosque’s sanctity.

Dhaka seeks details of the legal process

Bangladesh’s state minister for foreign affairs, Shama Obaed Islam, said the government had approached Saudi authorities for information about the offences and the legal proceedings. Decisions on further action, including bringing the bodies home, would follow once that information was received, she said.

Islam also said the government remained committed to protecting the welfare and interests of Bangladeshis living abroad.

The Daily Star reported that the two citizens had appeared on a prisoner list Saudi Arabia supplied in response to a request from the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah. However, the list did not identify them as having been sentenced to death. That distinction is central to Bangladesh’s account: receiving information that citizens were imprisoned was not the same as being told they faced execution.

Concern in a country with close Saudi ties

The executions have prompted public concern in Bangladesh, which has close religious and economic relations with Saudi Arabia. More than three million Bangladeshis live and work in the kingdom, predominantly in low-paid employment.

The case follows earlier executions involving Bangladeshi citizens. In 2011, Saudi authorities publicly executed eight Bangladeshi men in Riyadh after they were convicted of killing an Egyptian.

A separate case this month ended with Saudi Arabia overturning the death sentence of a Sri Lankan man convicted of blasphemy over a Facebook comment. That decision followed public opposition in Sri Lanka and diplomatic appeals for clemency.