The Saudi Arabian Government has explained that the killing of a Nigerian, Mrs Kudirat Adesola Afolabi, was done according to the laws of the land which were created to protect its citizens against the harmful effects of hard drugs.
Recall that Afolabi was executed alongside two Pakistanis and a Yemeni for trafficking in drugs on Monday.
The Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Nigeria, Adnan Bostaji, said in Abuja on Thursday after a closed door meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mustapha Suleiman, that the execution was done in compliance with extant laws of his country.
Recall that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had described Afolabi’s killing as pathetic and tragic, adding that the news of the tragedy was painful.
Responding to the comment, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Abuja noted that Afolabi was accorded every legal right before the death sentence was carried out on her.
According to the Embassy, “With reference to the statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri- Erewa, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Abuja, clarifies as follows: The Embassy affirms that all legal and judicial procedures were followed regarding the accused person and she was accorded every legal right before the death sentence was carried out on her.
“All accused persons subjected to the legal process in Saudi Courts of Law are al- lowed access to lawyers to litigate on their behalf, and the Kingdom avails itself the responsibility to provide lawyers for any persons that have no financial ability to do so.
“All convicted persons on whom the death penalty has been carried out in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have gone through trials characterized by legal guarantee of justice to their case because the Kingdom’s judicial system is established on objectivity and is dependent, in terms of its rules and regulations, on the Islamic Law, which has always restored rights to their owners and done justice to the victims.
“This is what the Kingdom has always affirmed.
“The death sentence is only carried out in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after all proofs and legal evidence have been exhausted regard- ing the accused, and the process goes through various legal stages until the allegations against the detained persons have been proven beyond reasonable doubt.”
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