Makkah mosque case: Bangladesh seeks answers after Saudi executes

According to Dhaka Tribune, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Saturday, October 17, that Dhaka had sent a formal letter to Saudi authorities seeking detailed information about the executions.

“We have yet to receive any official detailed information from the Saudi government,” she told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that Bangladesh was awaiting a response.

Shama said Bangladesh learnt on October 14 that the two nationals had been sentenced to death under Saudi law and that the executions had been carried out. Neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Bangladesh mission in Saudi Arabia had been informed in advance.

The state minister said the government had requested information about the identities and backgrounds of the two individuals, including when they had travelled to Saudi Arabia for employment.

Following the incident, the Bangladesh mission shared the information it had gathered from Saudi authorities with the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

“We wanted to know whatever we needed to know. Let the reply come. I will be able to let you know,” Shama said.

Saudi authorities said the two Bangladeshi nationals were executed after being convicted of committing indecent acts inside a mosque in Makkah, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry and carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

They were identified as Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar.

The ministry said the court sentenced them to death under ta’zir, a discretionary form of punishment under Islamic law, citing the seriousness of the offence and the violation of the mosque’s sanctity.

The verdicts were upheld by the relevant judicial authority before a royal order authorised their implementation. The executions took place on Wednesday, October 14, in the Makkah region.