· Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against five human rights activists from the kingdom’s Eastern Province currently on trial in a secretive terrorism court, groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
· Among the detainees is Israa al-Ghomgham, whom Saudi activists said was the first woman to possibly face the death penalty for rights-related work. Charges against her include incitement to protest and providing moral support to rioters.
· ALQST, a London-based Saudi rights group, reported the decision involving Ms. Ghomgham’s case earlier this week.
· Activists said the trial was ongoing, and denied social media reports that the detainees had already been executed.
· Saudi Arabia, under its powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has sought to crack down on dissent, with many activists, including women, arrested in the last one year.
· Ms. Ghomgham is a prominent Shia Muslim activist who documented mass demonstrations in the Eastern Province starting in 2011. She was arrested from her home in December 2015.
· Most of the country’s Shia minority lives in the oil-producing Eastern Province and some have complained that their religious ceremonies are banned or interfered with by Sunni authorities, and that they lack opportunities for work and education.
· The government has denied the charges.
· Saudi Arabia has previously executed Shia activists on what rights groups called politically-motivated charges.
Source : The Hindu