New Delhi. Two Bangladeshi citizens have been given death sentence in Saudi Arabia. According to the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia, both of them were convicted of wrongdoing inside a mosque in the Mecca area. The sentences of both were executed under royal orders on Wednesday. However, Saudi officials did not clarify what exactly the two did inside the mosque. Neither the name of the mosque nor the details of the incident have been made public. Meanwhile, the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Jeddah has said that he was not informed before his execution.
Who were the two hanged Bangladeshi citizens?
According to a statement issued by Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry, the two hanged have been identified as Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar. Both were citizens of Bangladesh. The ministry said the two were arrested by security officials after completing their investigation into the case. After this, charges were framed against him and the case was sent to the competent court.
The court convicted both of them after the hearing. The judgment said his actions violated the sanctity of place and time. On this basis, the court awarded death sentence under the provisions of Tajir under Islamic law. The relevant authorities upheld the judicial decision and a royal order was subsequently issued to impose the sentence. According to the Home Ministry, the punishment was carried out in the Mecca area on Wednesday.
What is Tajir, under which death sentence is awarded?
Tajir was mentioned in the Saudi Interior Ministry statement. In Islamic law, Tajir is a punishment in which the judge has the discretion to decide the punishment depending on the nature and circumstances of the crime. This is distinct from punishments that have fixed penalties in traditional Islamic jurisprudence.
In this case, the court cited the seriousness of the crime and the violation of the sanctity of the mosque as the basis for punishment. However, since Saudi authorities have not made public the details of the alleged crime, it is unclear on what specific activities the two were convicted.
Information not given to Bangladesh Consulate in advance
An important aspect in this matter is that the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Jeddah has expressed ignorance about the hanging proceedings. According to a Consulate official, Saudi authorities did not inform the mission of the punishment before it was handed down.
The official said that a note verbale has been sent to the Saudi Foreign Ministry in this regard. Note verbal is a formal medium of diplomatic communication, through which official information can be sought from a government or its representative. The Bangladesh Consulate is now trying to get detailed information about the case from Saudi authorities.
What happened in the mosque is still not clear
Many important questions have not been answered in the Interior Ministry's statement issued through the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The statement did not specify which mosque in the Mecca area the incident took place in. Furthermore, the nature of the alleged crime, the date of their arrest and the circumstances surrounding the incident have also not been disclosed.
The official statement only said that the two were found guilty of wrongdoing inside the mosque and violating the sanctity of place and time.
At present, the information available in this matter is limited to the statement of the Saudi Interior Ministry and the response of the Bangladeshi Consulate. Until Saudi authorities release clear details of the alleged crime, it is not possible to say with certainty what exactly happened inside the mosque.