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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

URGENT ACTION: Cleric Sentenced to Death after Flawed Trial in Saudi Arabia

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Prominent Saudi Arabian Shi’a Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has been sentenced to death on vague charges and after a deeply flawed trial. His conviction must be quashed and he should be released immediately in relation to these charges. 

View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. 

Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, the capital, on 15 October for a list of offences including “disobeying and breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “calling to overthrow the regime”, “calling for demonstrations”, “inciting sectarian strife”, “questioning the integrity of the judiciary”, “meeting with and supporting wanted suspects”, and “interfering in a neighboring state’s affairs” (in reference to Bahrain). 

Evidence for the charges that Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was convicted of came from religious sermons and interviews attributed to the cleric. Amnesty International’s review of these texts confirms that he was exercising his right to free expression and was not inciting violence. A number of charges, including disobeying the ruler, should not be offences at all as they criminalize the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression and other human rights. Other charges are vague and have been abused here to punish the exercise of human rights. 

The trial that commenced at the Specialized Criminal Court on 25 March 2013 was also deeply flawed. The cleric was denied the most basic needs to prepare for his defense, including regular access to his lawyer and a pen and some paper to respond to the charges. Key eyewitnesses were allowed not to testify in court in violation of Saudi Arabian laws, and his lawyer was not informed of the dates of a number of court hearings. 

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who is the Imam of al-Awamiyya mosque in al-Qatif, eastern Saudi Arabia, was arrested without an arrest warrant on 8 July 2012 when security officers forced his car to stop and shot him when he refused to accompany them. He spent most of his detention in solitary confinement in military hospitals and in al-Ha’ir Prison in Riyadh. He has been paralyzed in one leg because of the incident leading to his arrest and needs urgent medical attention to remove a second bullet in his back. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Saudi Arabians in the Kingdom’s predominantly Shi’a Eastern Province have long claimed discrimination and harassment against them by the authorities. Inspired in part by protests that swept the Middle East and North Africa region in 2011, they organized demonstrations to protest at the harassment, arrest, and imprisonment of members of the Shi’a community for, among other things, celebrating Shi’a religious festivals, breaching restrictions on building Shi’a mosques and religious schools, and expressing support to protestors in Bahrain. 

View the full Urgent Action here. 

Name: Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr (m) 
Issues: Death penalty, Freedom of expression, Unfair trial 
UA: 271/14 Issue Date: 31 October 2014 
Country: Saudi Arabia 

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! 

EITHER send a short email to uan@aiusa.org with "UA 271/14" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. 

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. 

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan@aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own language: 
* Calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to quash the conviction and death sentence of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr and release him immediately in relation to these charges; 
* Urging them to provide him with adequate medical treatment; 
* Urging them to establish immediately an official moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. 

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 12 DECEMBER 2014 TO: 

King and Prime Minister 
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud 
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques 
Office of His Majesty the King 
Royal Court, Riyadh 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) 011 966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying) 
Salutation: Your Majesty 

And copies to: 
President, Human Rights Commission 
Bandar Mohammed ‘Abdullah al-Aiban 
Human Rights Commission 
PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515 
King Fahad Road 
Building No.373, Riyadh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Fax: 011 966 11 461 2061 

Minister of Justice 
His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulkareem Al-Issa 
Ministry of Justice 
University Street Riyadh 11137 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Fax: 011 966 11 401 1741 
011 966 11 402 0311 
Salutation: Your Excellency 

Also send copies to: Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia 
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington DC 20037 
Fax: 1 202 944 5983 I Phone: 1 202 342 3800 I Email: info@saudiembassy.net

Please share widely with your networks: http://bit.ly/1DDCDxl

UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.509.8193 │E. uan@aiusa.org │amnestyusa.org/urgent
Location: Saudi Arabia
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