06:46 am:
Said Gafurov, a Middle East expert, told Global Voices that these efforts to save Fayadh have a chance at success. Even if they fail, Gafurov says he's sure that remaining silent about such cases is no option, arguing that capital punishment is “horrendous, incredible and simply unacceptable” in the 21st century.
The execution of any poet is a loss for all humanity. For all we know, you might be killing a poet whose works will be mandatory reading in schools, 500 years from now. Or perhaps they would have been, if they hadn't cut his head off.
According to Gafurov, Saudi Arabia lacks an independent judiciary: “the government brings all charges, the government carries out the judgment, it determines the verdict, and it acts as executioner—all in the interests of a single family.”
