Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and the Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah told Prothom Alo about this information.
A source from the Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah told this reporter on Friday afternoon that the Saudi authorities did not officially inform Bangladesh about the execution before the execution. The matter came to their attention only after the news was published in the media. Later on Thursday, the consulate in Jeddah sent a letter to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting to provide details of the incident.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) confirmed the execution on Wednesday through the country's Ministry of Interior. It is known that Nazrul Islam and Sweety Akhtar are sentenced to death.
Middle East-based media outlet Gulf News reported that they were arrested by Saudi security forces for allegedly engaging in immoral and indecent acts at a mosque in Mecca.
According to the report, after the preliminary investigation after the arrest, specific charges against them were sent to the court. Under Sharia law, the court ordered them to be sentenced to death under the provision of 'taazir' i.e. discretionary punishment of the judge. It is said that the judge gave the punishment taking into account the desecration of the mosque and the circumstances in which the crime took place. Later, if the higher judicial authority upheld the verdict, it became final and the execution of the sentence was ordered by royal order.
In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Interior reiterated the government's firm stance on protecting the security of the Holy Mosque, establishing justice and enforcing Sharia law against violators of religious sanctity. At the same time, it has been warned that if such crimes are repeated in the holy place, they will face severe punishment.
According to private sources from Saudi Arabia, the trial process was going on in the court of Jeddah for the past few months. And during the trial process, two prominent citizens of Bangladesh cooperated as interpreters.
Incidentally, both Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia are parties to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. According to Article 36 of the Charter, when a citizen of a country is arrested abroad, at the request of the detainee, the detaining country must immediately inform its consulate and provide consular assistance. In this case, it is not yet clear whether the detainees requested to inform the consulate or not.
Several officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who did not wish to reveal their names, say that the Saudi authorities arrested two Bangladeshis and executed them very quickly, which is not supposed to happen. Why no one contacted the mission on behalf of the two now detained is also mysterious.
No information has been received so far on the nature and duration of the two deceased's stay in Saudi Arabia, whether any legal assistance or appeal was taken in the trial or not.
