SAUDI ARABIA. THREE SRI LANKANS FACE EXECUTION FOR ROBBERY

three Sri Lankan nationals were reported to be at risk of imminent execution. Their cases had been referred to Saudi Arabia’s Head of State, King Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, to decide whether to grant clemency or to ratify their sentences, a report from Amnesty International said. Amnesty report further said that if the King ratified the sentences the three men could be executed at any time.
D.D. Ranjith de Silva, E.J. Victor Corea and Sanath Pushpakumara had reportedly been arrested in March 2004 in the capital, Riyadh, and sentenced to death in connection with a series of armed robberies. Their sentences had been confirmed in March 2005. They were currently held in al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh, the report said. AI did not have detailed information about their trials or whether the three men had been legally represented. However, the organization was concerned that defendants in Saudi Arabia often did not have adequate legal representation, even in trials for offences carrying the death penalty.