The Lord Bishop of St Albans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans on 2015-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia concerning the cases of Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of and seriously concerned by the cases of Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher. We have raised these cases at a senior level in the Government of Saudi Arabia, most recently on 11 October. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”.