New Delhi: Bangladesh has sought an explanation from Saudi Arabia after two of its nationals were executed in Mecca for an “immoral” act inside a mosque, according to local media reports.
Bangladesh Secretary (East & West) Md Nazrul Islam sought detailed information about the executions during a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah Sunday, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Dhaka-based news agency United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
A day earlier, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said Dhaka was awaiting a detailed explanation from Riyadh before deciding on further steps, including repatriating the bodies.
According to UNB, Shama said neither the ministry nor Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia had been informed before the executions. Bangladesh learnt of them on 14 October, the day they took place.
The Daily Star reported that the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah had submitted a note to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking formal acknowledgement of the matter. A statement by the Saudi Interior Ministry, carried by state-run Saudi Press Agency, identified the two Bangladeshis as Nazerul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar.
The ministry said a court had found the charges against them proven and sentenced them to death, citing the “gravity of the offence and the violation of the sanctity of the time and place”. The sentences were upheld by the relevant authorities, after which a royal order was issued for the executions.
UNB reported that Bangladesh had also sought details of the two individuals’ identities, backgrounds in Bangladesh and when they had arrived in Saudi Arabia for work.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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