La propagande pakistanaise ? Des messages de copie-collant accusent l'Indien après l'exécution de deux Bangladais par l'Arabie saoudite

Bangladesh’s government expressed intense frustration on Monday after discovering that two of its citizens, who were executed in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on October 14, had been omitted from a critical list of death sentences provided by Riyadh. Dhaka alleges that the omission prevented Bangladeshi diplomats from intervening to potentially save the lives of Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Sweety Akhtar. The executions took place without prior notification to the Bangladeshi government or the families of the deceased, leading to accusations of a serious lapse in consular communication between the two nations. Md Sakhawat Hossain, the Bangladesh consul general in Jeddah, raised the issue directly with Farid bin Saad Al Shehri, the director general of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, the Saudi official was unable to offer a satisfactory explanation for why the specific death sentences were missing from the documentation sent to Dhaka. Following this discussion, Bangladesh dispatched an additional diplomatic note requesting comprehensive details regarding the judicial proceedings. Officials at the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the initial list, transmitted on September 30, did include the names of Nazrul and Sweety along with descriptions of the offenses they were accused of committing. However, it failed to specify that they had been sentenced to death. The diplomatic crisis unfolded rapidly after the executions. On October 15, the Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah sent a note to Saudi authorities seeking information. By October 18, Dhaka had escalated the matter by raising it with Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir described the executions as "very disappointing" on Monday. He emphasized that Bangladesh maintains a deep relationship with Saudi Arabia, particularly at the prime ministerial level, and noted that both countries are signatories to the Geneva Conventions. Kobir argued that the gap in information sharing hindered the ability of the diplomatic mission to provide necessary consular assistance. He added that Bangladesh expects reciprocal treatment, promising to notify Saudi Arabia immediately if a Saudi national faces arrest in Bangladesh. Shama Obaed Islam, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, indicated that the government is currently waiting for copies of the final verdicts to understand the specifics of the cases. She stated that once the documents are reviewed, Dhaka will engage further with Saudi authorities to determine potential next steps. The ministry confirmed that it has not yet received detailed information about the individuals or the formal response from Riyadh regarding the procedural failures. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced via the Saudi Press Agency that the two men and women were convicted of committing "immoral acts" inside a mosque in Mecca. The ministry confirmed that the death penalties were imposed under the principle of ta'zir, a category of Islamic law involving discretionary punishments determined by judges for offenses where specific penalties are not prescribed in religious texts. The sentences were reportedly upheld by judicial authorities and authorized by a royal order. Despite these confirmations, Riyadh has not publicly detailed the specific acts committed, the timing of arrests, or the conduct of the trials. A confidential memo from the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah, obtained by local media, revealed that both victims were employed as cleaners by the Saudi company Al Majal. The prisoner list received on September 30 indicated that Nazrul had been detained on August 1, 2023, under Saudi cybercrime laws, while Sweety was detained the following day on allegations of adultery. Both families have firmly disputed these charges. Nazrul’s relatives claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by a Pakistani co-worker with whom he had previously had a dispute. Sweety’s family asserted that she was arrested after some of her female colleagues allegedly purchased a vehicle illegally. Neither account has been independently verified. Social media platforms have become a battleground for conflicting narratives. Unverified posts, originating from Pakistan-based accounts and replicated by users in Bangladesh, Africa, and elsewhere, allege that Nazrul and Sweety were in a romantic relationship and engaged in adultery in a secluded area between gates 85 and 87 of the Grand Mosque. These viral claims assert that an Indian man stood guard during the encounter and later circulated a recording of the event after failing to pursue a relationship with Sweety. The posts claim the Indian man was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, no official records substantiate these allegations, and both families have rejected the notion that the two knew each other romantically, stating they were strangers. Other online rumors suggested the offense involved nothing more than a kiss on the forehead, a claim also denied by the families. Nazrul, the eldest son of Abdul Bashir and Rahima Begum, hailed from Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila in Chattogram Division. He moved to Saudi Arabia in November 2022 to work as a cleaner at Masjid al-Haram. His family reported that police arrested him approximately eight months after his arrival. Relatives said they last spoke to him on October 11, receiving news of his execution three days later. His 65-year-old aunt, Abeda Begum, fainted upon hearing the news and subsequently died. Nazrul’s father, Abdul Basir, who had worked in Saudi Arabia for 24 years, demanded justice, stating that his son was not afforded a fair trial. The case highlights broader concerns regarding transparency in Saudi judicial processes. Human rights organizations have documented high rates of capital punishment in the kingdom, with many sentences handed down for non-violent offenses. In a similar recent instance, a Sri Lankan Hindu immigrant named Anojan Sivarasa was sentenced to death for blasphemy, though his conviction was later overturned following intervention by the Sri Lankan government. More than three million Bangladeshi citizens live and work in Saudi Arabia, predominantly in low-wage sectors. The current diplomatic standoff leaves the bodies of the two executed citizens in Saudi custody, with Dhaka pressing for their repatriation alongside the requested legal clarifications.