The two Bangladeshis executed in Saudi Arabia had been held in Saudi prisons on separate charges since August 2023. This is stated in a confidential letter sent on 18 October by the labour welfare wing of the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
According to the letter, the Saudi authorities told neither the Bangladesh embassy nor the consulate anything in advance about the two executions. Even after the sentences were carried out, they were not formally informed.
The letter says the executions became known on 14 October from reports in several Saudi media outlets citing a statement by the Saudi interior ministry.
The two executed Bangladeshis were Nazrul Islam Abdul Bashir and Sweety Akter. According to the interior ministry statement carried by Saudi media, they were executed in the Makkah region, the letter says. They were accused of violating the sanctity of a mosque in the holy city of Makkah by engaging in immoral acts inside it.
The Saudi authorities did not provide details about the two people, the consulate’s letter says.
According to the letter, the Jeddah consulate had asked the Saudi foreign ministry for information on Bangladeshis held for various offences in prisons in western Saudi Arabia. A list came on 30 September in response, and Nazrul’s and Sweety’s names were on it. But the list gave no information about their sentences. From the information received, both worked as cleaners at a Saudi firm called Al Majal.
According to the list, Nazrul was detained on 1 August 2023 on a charge involving information technology. Sweety was detained the next day on a charge of adultery. Nazrul was held at the Jeddah correctional facility, and Sweety at the Jeddah women’s prison. The list did not mention either one’s sentence, the letter says.
The consulate’s letter says there is no earlier case of a Bangladeshi being sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on charges of information technology offences or adultery.
The list shows 306 Bangladeshis held in prisons in western Saudi Arabia in various morality-related cases, the letter says. Of them, 147 have been sentenced to terms ranging from one month to 15 years in prison.
The consulate said in the letter that it had received no request for legal help from the families of the two executed Bangladeshis, and that the families had not contacted it. Nor did the Saudi authorities say anything about the death sentences being handed down or carried out.
The consulate says it has sent a diplomatic note to the Makkah branch of the Saudi foreign ministry asking for a copy of the verdict and details of the case. A detailed report will be sent once the copy of the verdict arrives, the letter says.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report