Saudi Arabia Sentences Tribesmen to Death for Resisting Displacement
10th October 2022
A Saudi court sentenced three members of the Howeitat, a tribe forcibly ejected to make way for the $500 bn Neom megacity, to death earlier this month for resisting displacement, a UK-based rights group has reported.
Shadli, Atallah, and Ibrahim al-Howeiti were arrested in 2020 for opposing the eviction of their tribe for the project and were handed down death sentences on 2 October by Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court, according to UK-based rights group Alqst.
“We condemn the sentences and call for their release,” Alqst said in a tweet.
Shadli al-Huweiti is the brother of Abdul Rahim al-Howeiti, a 43-year-old Tabuk resident who was shot dead by Saudi special forces in April 2020 after protesting the government’s eviction orders, including in videos he regularly posted to YouTube.
The men’s death sentences are only the latest in a series of extreme rulings recently handed down by Saudi courts to those who have expressed dissent.
I don’t even have to say anything, do I?
The Howeitat are the tribe of Auda Abu Tayi, of Lawrence of Arabia fame, and their support of the Hashemites, hereditary enemies of the Ibn Saud rulers of Saudi Arabia, no doubt had something to so with the severity of the sentences.