Saudi Arabia abolished the death penalty for minors

DOHA, 27 Jun – RIA Novosti. The Saudi authorities took the decision to abolish the death penalty as punishment for crimes committed by minors, said in a statement on the website of the national Commission on human rights.

“the juvenile Death penalty is replaced by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years”, – stated in the message. As noted by the head of the Commission Awwad al-Awwad, whose words are in the message, “this is an important day for Saudi Arabia… This decree will help us to create a more modern criminal code.”

last week the government of the Kingdom excluded the whips or sticks from the list of possible forms of punishment for illegal actions. The issue of this decree coincided with the Western media reports, citing Saudi human rights activists abroad about the death in prison in Saudi Arabia prominent Saudi human rights defender and civil activist Abdullah al-Hamid, who was one of the founders of the “Saudi Association of civil and political rights”, advocated the observance of human rights in Saudi Arabia and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. International human rights activists demanded the Saudi authorities to investigate the cause of his death.