Saudis execute six men without sentence

Abshir Hassan, a 29 year old London man, accused Saudi Arabia of executing his brother, Abdul Fattah, and five other Somalis on April 1 without ever telling them that they had been condemned to death.
Only when they were about to be beheaded did they learn their fate, he said. Mr Hassan, an Arsenal fan, said he had joked with his brother, who supported Manchester United, about the state of their respective teams in a telephone call on April 1, just hours before Abdul was executed. "The next day Amnesty called and said they had been killed," he said.
Abdul Hassan was among six Somalis who were jailed for five years in 1999 and sentenced to 3,000 lashes for "abducting and robbing" taxi drivers. According to the Saudi embassy in London, the six "committed hundreds of crimes". But when the five years were up, they remained in jail, despite protests from Amnesty International, which says they were never told of the death penalty.
Abshir Hassan claims that his brother and five friends were innocent and were forced to sign confessions in Arabic, a language none of them could read, after being tortured.
Dr Ali al-Qarni, a spokesman for the Saudi embassy in London, dismissed concerns over the increasing number of executions. "The death penalty is not an issue for discussion," he said. "It is Islamic law. A rapist, a killer is going to get capital punishment. The number is completely irrelevant." He also denied Mr Hassan"s claim that the six were not told they were to die. "This story ... is complete garbage. Every person who is going to be executed will be told. They are given ample time." However, a spokesman for Amnesty said: "Any rise in executions is worrying, but the secrecy and lack of fairness of the Saudi justice system makes these figures even more frightening."