Urgent Action Outcome: Abdullah Al-Derazi Executed For Alleged Crimes As A Child

On 20 October 2025, Saudi authorities executed Abdullah al-Derazi for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age [a child]. Abdullah al-Derazi was sentenced to death on 20 February 2018 after a grossly unfair trial that relied on a torture-tainted “confession”. The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) convicted Abdullah al-Derazi of “terrorism”-related charges following his participation in protests against the government’s treatment of the Shia minority. Abdullah al-Derazi was 17 at the time of his alleged crime.

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

On 20 October 2025, Saudi authorities executed Abdullah al-Derazi for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age [a child]. Abdullah al-Derazi, a member of the country’s Shia minority, was arrested on 27 August 2014 and sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) on 20 February 2018.

Abdullah al-Derazi was 17 at the time of his alleged participation in violent attacks and possession of illegal weapons during protests in 2011 and 2012 that demanded better treatment for the country’s Shia minority. He was convicted and sentenced to death in a grossly unfair trial that lacked procedural safeguards. He had no access to legal representation during his pretrial detention and told the court he was tortured to “confess”. The court did not investigate his claims of torture and other ill-treatment.

On 8 August 2022, an appeals court upheld Abdullah al-Derazi’s death sentence. In October 2023, Amnesty International received credible information that Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in secret. 

Earlier this year, on 21 August 2025, Saudi authorities executed Jalal Labbad for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age [a child].

While the Shia community comprises an estimated 10-12% of the population, they accounted for around 42% (120 of 286) of all “terrorism”-related executions between January 2014 and June 2025, reflecting political repression against a group long facing discrimination, with peaceful dissent often prosecuted as “terrorism.”

Thank you to all those who sent appeals. Abdullah al-Derazi’s execution underscores the devastating toll of the Saudi authorities’ ruthless use of the death penalty in disregard of one of the most absolute prohibitions to its use—against people for crimes they allegedly committed as children. Amnesty International will continue campaigning for other people on death row in Saudi Arabia for alleged crimes they committed as children.