Bangladesh seeks details after two nationals executed in Mecca

Saudi Arabia executed two Bangladeshi citizens in Mecca last Wednesday after convicting them of an unspecified “indecent act” inside a mosque. Bangladesh says it learnt of the executions only afterwards and has asked Saudi authorities for details, prompting public concern and questions about the case.

Saudi Arabia said the pair were sentenced under tazir, a category of punishment determined by a judge, citing the offence’s severity and the mosque’s sanctity. Their names appeared on a prisoner list shared with Bangladesh, but the list did not say they had received death sentences, the Daily Star reported. More than three million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia; Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia has executed around 100 people this year, many of them foreign nationals convicted of drug offences.