The USA must demand his release and asylum. Is Saudi Arabia still in the Midieval years? The USA cannot allow this execution to occur.
Ashraf Fayadh, right, with art historian Chris Dercon, outgoing director
of Tate Modern, attend the opening of an exhibition in Jeddah curated
by Ashraf Fayadh.
Photograph: Ashraff Ayadh/Instagram
20 November 2015
By David Barry
A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia’s (click here) nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.
A Saudi court on Tuesday ordered the execution of Ashraf Fayadh, who has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale. The poet, who said he did not have legal representation, was given 30 days to appeal against the ruling.
Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014.
But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution.
“I was really shocked but it was expected, though I didn’t do anything that deserves death,” Fayadh told the Guardian....
Ashraf Fayadh, right, with art historian Chris Dercon, outgoing director
of Tate Modern, attend the opening of an exhibition in Jeddah curated
by Ashraf Fayadh.
Photograph: Ashraff Ayadh/Instagram 20 November 2015
By David Barry
A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia’s (click here) nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.
A Saudi court on Tuesday ordered the execution of Ashraf Fayadh, who has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale. The poet, who said he did not have legal representation, was given 30 days to appeal against the ruling.
Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014.
But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution.
“I was really shocked but it was expected, though I didn’t do anything that deserves death,” Fayadh told the Guardian....
