MOSCOW (Voice of Russia): After a Bangladeshi man and woman were executed in Saudi Arabia over an alleged immoral act in a mosque in Mecca, questions have been raised about the nature of the incident, the court proceedings, and the failure to inform Bangladeshi authorities in advance. Saudi authorities have maintained that the offence was proven against both individuals and that legal requirements were met, while Bangladesh has sought full details of the incident.
According to an official statement from the Saudi Ministry of Interior, Bangladeshi citizen Nazar-ul-Islam Abdul Basir and a woman, Siti Akhtar, were arrested on charges of committing an immoral act in a mosque in Mecca. After investigations were completed, the case was presented in court, where, upon the offence being proven, they were sentenced to death under tazir. After confirmation by the relevant judicial authorities and a royal order, the sentence was carried out on October 14, 2026, in the Mecca region.
According to Saudi authorities, in addition to the gravity of the offence, the violation of the sanctity of the holy place was also taken into account. The Saudi Ministry of Interior used the Arabic term fa’l al-fahisha in its statement, which refers to an act of an immoral or sexual nature. However, the official statement did not provide the full nature of the incident, the name of the mosque concerned, the date of arrest, or details of the court evidence.
An important aspect of the incident is that some reports described the two individuals as husband and wife or a Bangladeshi couple, but the available official information does not confirm their mutual relationship or marital status. Similarly, it is not reliably established that the two were caught red-handed while committing an immoral act in the mosque.
According to information emerging from Bangladeshi authorities, the two individuals were accused of committing zina inside the mosque. However, this detail emerged from Bangladeshi diplomatic sources, while the original statement of the Saudi Ministry of Interior used only the term immoral act. Because of this difference, the importance of the full court judgment has increased further in order to know the exact nature of the incident.
In this case, the death sentence was given under tazir. In Islamic law, a tazir punishment means a punishment whose nature and amount are determined under the relevant legal and judicial system. Saudi authorities maintained that the offence of the two individuals was serious and that it violated the sanctity of the holy place. The court decision became final after confirmation by the relevant judicial authority, and the sentence was enforced on a royal order.
On the other hand, the Government of Bangladesh has sought a formal explanation from Saudi Arabia over the incident. According to the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry, neither the Bangladeshi Consulate in Jeddah was informed about the court proceedings nor was any information given before the execution. Bangladeshi authorities learned about the execution of the two citizens after the news appeared in Saudi media.
According to Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shama Obaid Islam, the Foreign Ministry’s Secretary for Bilateral Affairs, Muhammad Nazar-ul-Islam, met the Saudi Ambassador in Dhaka, Abdullah Zafar bin Abiyah, and sought details of the incident. A formal diplomatic note was also provided to the Saudi Ambassador, in which information was sought about the identity of the two individuals, the charges, the court proceedings, and the death sentence. Bangladeshi authorities clarified that their relations with Saudi Arabia are cordial and that they are awaiting complete information in this matter.
The incident has also raised an important legal and diplomatic question about the extent to which the diplomatic mission of a foreign national’s country must be informed during the stages of arrest, trial, and execution. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, arrested foreign nationals have rights of contact with their consulate, and specific obligations are imposed on the relevant authorities. However, whether or not the Convention was violated in this case, details of the arrest, consular notification, and court proceedings are necessary to reach a final conclusion.
The Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs also refrained from making immediate comments on this question, saying that the nature of the matter will become clear only after complete details are received from the Saudi Government.
Analytically, this case has two separate aspects. The first is Saudi Arabia’s legal position, according to which the two individuals were sentenced by a court for the serious offence of violating the sanctity of the mosque. The second aspect is Bangladesh’s diplomatic position, in which the basic question is more about access to information about the arrest, court proceedings, and execution of its citizens than about the nature of the offence.
It is also noteworthy that the statement of the Saudi Ministry of Interior does not contain the complete chronology of the case. Therefore, it is not known when the two individuals were arrested, how long the trial lasted, what kind of legal assistance was provided to them, and whether any attempt was made to contact Bangladeshi diplomatic authorities. Without answers to these questions, it would be premature to give any definite verdict on the transparency of the court proceedings or their legal status.
The Saudi Government made it clear in its statement that it is committed to the sanctity of mosques, law and order, and the enforcement of Islamic laws. On the other hand, Bangladesh, raising the matter at the diplomatic level, has started efforts to obtain full details of the case of its citizens.
The most important aspect of this incident is that two individuals have been executed, but the full details of the offence against them, the evidence in the case, and the record of the court proceedings have not yet come before the public. Only the official information provided by Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh will make it clear what evidence was presented in the case and what procedure was adopted in the matter of consular notification.
At present, Saudi Arabia’s judicial position and Bangladesh’s diplomatic questions are the two basic aspects of this matter, while further official clarification is awaited for the full facts to emerge.
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