Bangladeshis Executed in KSA: Jeddah mission thought they’re serving time

Foreign ministry tells JS body

Officials at Bangladesh’s mission in Jeddah believed that two Bangladeshis executed in Saudi Arabia faced prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years, rather than the death penalty, the foreign ministry told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

The information was shared at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The ministry told the committee that the way prisoners were categorised on a list from Saudi Arabia had led officials to believe that.

The ministry has sought answers from the Saudi authorities. The committee asked the ministry to brief the body once the response arrives.

The committee also sought a report on whether there had been any negligence at the Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah, what action had been taken if lapses were found, and what measures were being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The two Bangladeshi nationals were executed in Saudi Arabia on October 14 without prior notification to Dhaka, according to the information presented to the committee.

They had been detained since August 2023 over separate allegations, one involving “cybercrime” and the other “adultery”.

The foreign ministry informed the committee that Saudi Arabia had sent a list of around 2,500 prisoners about 14 days before the executions. The names of the two Bangladeshis were on the list, but their cases were not properly identified.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, committee chairman Zohra Adib Chowdhury said members wanted to know why the consulate had not acted earlier and whether there had been any negligence or shortcomings in the process.

“Bangladesh has good relations with Saudi Arabia. So why were we not informed earlier?” she said, adding that the incident pointed to weaknesses in the overall process.

Referring to the exchange of information 14 days before the executions, she said the ministry had acknowledged that the report had not been properly examined.

Asked why officials had mistaken the cases of the two executed Bangladeshis for ones carrying prison terms, a foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star that Saudi Arabia can impose the death penalty for cybercrimes involving online activities deemed to be directed against the kingdom.

“However, cybercrimes such as hacking, data theft or online fraud do not necessarily carry the death penalty,” the official said.

“Saudi Arabia does have a history of imposing the death penalty for adultery, although such sentences are extremely rare. Available records show that Saudi courts have handed down prison sentences for adultery in previous years. So, it was difficult to realise from the conviction details that the two Bangladeshis had been sentenced to death, particularly as the sentence column was left blank in the shared lists,” the official added.

The parliamentary committee also discussed reports of abuse of Bangladeshi women workers in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.

The foreign ministry informed the committee that around one to two per cent of Bangladeshi women workers in Saudi Arabia faced abuse. The committee asked the ministry to take necessary measures to bring such incidents down to zero.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Zohra said the ministry had reported that around 169,000 Bangladeshi women workers were currently employed in Saudi Arabia.

According to the information presented to the committee, workers are asked about their experiences when they visited the mission to collect their passports. Surveys are also conducted through third parties.

The ministry further reported that 1,364 women domestic workers had been rescued and safely repatriated.

Zohra said the rate of one or two per cent might appear low, but the actual number of women affected was significant.

The meeting was chaired by Zohra Adib Chowdhury. Committee members ABM Mosharraf Hossain, SK Azizul Bari, Saeed Al Noman, Humam Quader Chowdhury and Sanjida Islam attended. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir was also present at the meeting at the committee’s special invitation.