DHAKA: Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam has confirmed the two Bangladeshis given death sentences in Saudi Arabia were involved in adultery inside a mosque.
The state minister made the remarks while responding to questions from journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She also advised Bangladeshis living abroad to abide by the laws, customs, and values of their host countries.
Shama Obaed said, according to a message from the labour wing of Bangladesh’s mission in Saudi Arabia, the two Bangladeshis had been involved in “adultery” inside a mosque in the holy city of Makkah, an act considered a grave offence under Saudi law.
The Saudi court awarded the two individuals a death sentence after trial according to the law.
“Based on past experience, I can say that Saudi Arabia has its own legal framework. If someone commits a grave offence under that framework, the accused are punished in accordance with the law,” she said.
“The death sentences of two Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia are a major lesson for Bangladeshi nationals to abide by the law,” she added.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), citing the country’s Interior Ministry, confirmed that the two Bangladeshis had been executed. They were identified as Nazrul Islam and Sweety Akhtar.
The court sentenced them to death under ‘ta”zir,’ a category of discretionary punishment under Sharia law.
The report said the judge imposed the sentences considering the desecration of the mosque’s sanctity and the circumstances in which the offences had occurred. The verdict was subsequently upheld by higher judicial authorities, making it final, and a royal order was issued for the executions to be carried out.
