The CNN channel reported that the 18 years old young boy, Mortaja Al-Qureiris, is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, after spending four years in prison for participating in a "bicycle demonstration with children" in the predominantly Shia region, in Al-Awamiya.
According to the CNN, the first "crime" committed by Mortaja Al-Qureiris was at the age of 10, when he led a group of 30 children on bicycles, during the events in the Awamiya area in 2011.
Three years after the demonstration, the Saudi authorities arrested Mortaja Al-Qureiris while he was traveling with his family to Bahrain through the King Fahd land crossing, which links the two countries. It was reported that lawyers and human rights activists considered Mortaja Al-Qureiris as the smallest political detainee in Saudi Arabia.
Four years after his arrest, at the age of 18, he was tried in the terrorist crimes court for belonging to an "extremist terrorist group" and other charges, such as "riding a motorcycle with his brother Ali, who threw Molotov cocktails at the police station in Al-Awamiya, during the protests, shooting the security forces, and walking in his brother's funeral in 2011. "
The channel reported that the European Organization for Human Rights had previously said that Mortaja Al-Qureiris was put in solitary confinement for a month and was subjected to torture and ill-treatment to force him to confess and admit all the charges against him.
The Saudi Arabia was criticized, last April, following the execution of 37 people, most of whom belong to the Shia minority, and the United Nations says some were minors when they were arrested.
"I strongly condemn these shocking mass executions, despite the serious concerns raised regarding these issues" said the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet. She added: " What was shocking is that at least three of those executed were minors at the time of their sentencing."
For its part, the European Union considered the executions a serious violation of the human rights, warning that the fact that the majority of the convicted are Shia, may fuel sectarian tensions.
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