Bangladesh has summoned Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Dhaka and sought detailed information over the execution of two Bangladeshi nationals in the holy city of Makkah on allegations of immoral activities inside a mosque.
A diplomatic note seeking specific and comprehensive details of the incident was handed to Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah bin Jafar H. bin Abiah.
Foreign Ministry Secretary for Bilateral Affairs Md Nazrul Islam held an emergency meeting with the Saudi ambassador at the State Guest House Padma on Sunday afternoon.
Foreign Ministry officials confirmed the meeting and said the overall situation was discussed.
Reports published on Wednesday, October 14, by Saudi online news outlet Ajel and several other Middle Eastern media organisations said Nazrul Islam Abdul Bashir and Siti Akhtar, both Bangladeshi nationals, had been executed over allegations of engaging in immoral activities inside a mosque in the Makkah region.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam told journalists on Saturday that Saudi authorities had not formally given the Bangladesh Mission any advance notice regarding the executions.
Information received from the labour wing of the Bangladesh Mission in Jeddah indicated that the severe punishment had been imposed under Saudi law over allegations that the two individuals had engaged in immoral or adulterous acts, violating the sanctity of a mosque in Makkah, she said.
Bangladesh had written to Saudi authorities seeking details because it had not received any official information, the state minister added.
Shama Obaid Islam described the incident as “a big lesson for us” and advised Bangladeshi expatriates to comply with the laws of their host countries.
Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, an arresting country is required to inform the embassy of the concerned country when a foreign national is arrested or faces legal proceedings. Bangladesh said it had received no formal diplomatic information in the cases of the two nationals and sought to know why it was not informed before the executions.