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Saudi Arabia could crucify a teen over a protest he took part in when he was just ten years old.

Murtaja Quereiris was arrested three years later over his part in a bicycle protest during the 2011's Arab Spring uprisings.

Now 18, he is facing execution and is believed to be the youngest known political prisoner in the Gulf kingdom, reports CNN .

As a boy he was reportedly filmed taking part in the bike protest in the kingdom's Eastern Province.

He was captured grinning, wearing jeans and flip-flops and smiling at the camera, before shouting through a megaphone: "The people demand human rights!"

He was also featured in clips with his father, said to be named Abdullah, with neither of the pair wearing masks or face-scarves unlike many other activists in the footage captured years ago.

Three years after the protest he was detained at the border as he tried to travel with his family to Bahrain.

He has reportedly been held in pre-trial detention ever since.

Now 18 , a charge sheet recommending the death penalty for the teen cites charges including allegations of violence committed during protests – including helping to construct Molotov cocktails — shooting at security forces and marching at his brother’s funeral in 2011.

His brother died taking part in the protests when Murtaja was 11, and CNN says footage shows anti-government slogans being chanted by mourners during the procession.

The charge sheet also reportedly lists the death penalty, which can include crucifixion or dismemberment after execution, in the strictest possible punishment available to Saudi Arabia under its authorities' strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

The prosecution has accused the teen of the "sowing of sedition" over his alleged activities as a boy during the Arab Spring, which will reportedly see him tried in a terror court.

He denies all the charges, and said confessions were obtained under duress.

The kingdom, which is criticised by human rights watchdogs as carrying out among the highest rates of executions in the world, announced the execution of 37 men in April.

This year already executed three prisoners over crimes allegedly committed before they turned 18.

Human rights groups claimed the men were mostly from Saudia Arabia's Shia minority.

The age at which children can be prosecuted in the kingdom is unclear, but Human Rights Watch says it is believed to have been raised to 12 for boys, but remains boundless for girls.

Its guidance states: "Children under age 12 may also be subject to arrest and prosecution because new standards announced in 2006 raising the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 12 for boys do not appear to be well publicised or enforced.

"Regulations governing girls in conflict with the law do not set any minimum age of criminal responsibility."

It says Saudi religious enforcers routinely stop children in the street and detain them for "offences" as vague as swapping phone numbers with a member of the opposite sex, or, if girls are found alone with a male who is not a family member.

While Saudi Arabia did not comment on the latest reports, the United Nations Working Group for Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) had in 2016 highlighted the case of an unnamed jailed Saudi minor matching Murtaja's case, according to CNN.

The UN working group described the demonstrations as likely to have been peaceful demonstrations calling for justice for protesters who had been killed.

The group, which did not comment on the latest revelations, had in 2016 described the unnamed minor's confessions as "extracted" and arrest arbitrary, with the detention violating international norms.

The death penalty is only able to be enforced in the kingdom by order of King Salman or a representative.

His powerful son, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been touted as heralding more progressive social reforms in the kingdom.

But he has nonetheless been involved in the detention of influential Saudis including activists and women's rights defenders.