First Woman's Execution In Saudi Arabia May Be For Supporting Anti-Government Protests

Saudi Arabia may execute a female human rights activist who was arrested in 2015 on charges of anti-government protests and incitement to disobedience of the ruler. If executed, this will be the first time the country has carried out death penalty on a woman.

Israa al-Ghomgham from Qatif province has been in detention for 32 months. She was put before the specialized criminal court (SCC) in Riyadh recently where the public prosecutor recommended death penalty for six defendants, which included her as well as her husband Moussa al-Hashem.

"The call of the public prosecution for a death sentence for the detainee is a dangerous indicator that the trial outcome will lead to a death penalty sentence being issued," The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) said, adding, because the “Saudi mechanisms involved in the prosecution process are not independent and serve the needs of King Salman directly… Israa is being subjected to an unfair trial, which uses flawed laws and can be regarded as a ‘show trial,’” Sputnik News reported.

She appeared on government radars during 2011 protests in Qatif, demanding an end to anti-Shia discrimination and also the release of political prisoners. Al-Ghomgham and her husband were detained in a house raid by Saudi security forces Dec. 8, 2015.

Saudi human rights groups reported she could not afford a lawyer while she was in detention. However, a lawyer offered service for free after he saw a petition from her father that sought donations to help cover the 300,000 Saudi riyal ($80,000) cost of providing her with a lawyer.

Human activists are livid at the recommendation of death penalty with some even ironically pointing out the nations is a part of the United Nations Council on Human Rights.

“Saudi Arabia is calling for the beheading of female human rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham because she participated in peaceful protests. This is the same barbaric regime which still sits on the UN Women’s Rights Commission,” Sarah Abdallah, an Independent Lebanese geopolitical commentator tweeted.

"She was a person who tweeted and supported the protests. Maybe she protested as well. But the Saudi government is clearly trying to use that to send a message that we will not spare anyone, woman or not," Ali al Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights advocacy group, told Sputnik.

Many media outlets falsely reported that Ghomgham has already been executed.

"The Thefreethoughts Twitter account and other Saudi sources said the female, named as Esra al-Ghamgam, was executed on the prosecutor’s orders on Sunday. It shared a video showing an executioner fixing her in a recumbent position on the ground before decapitating her with a sword as security forces stood by,” a source claimed.

However, the video proved to be from an earlier beheading.

The nation has often been subjected to criticisms for executions. According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi beheaded 48 people in last 4 months with most of them for non-violent drug charges.