Donald Trump and Theresa May are being urged to intervene in the case of a Saudi Arabian student who won a place at a US university but faces beheading for protesting against the government in the gulf state.

Mujtaba’a al-Sweikat was due to start studying at Western Michigan University but was arrested in 2012 at a Saudi airport as he was about to fly to the US, aged just 17.

He was part of a group of 14 young men arrested for attending pro-democracy protests in the ultra-conservative kingdom, which has one of the worst human rights records in the world and is believed to have executed 57 people so far this year.

According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the men confessed to crimes under torture and were put on death row after more than two and a half years of pre-trial detention. Many have since retracted their confessions.

The UK charity Reprieve understands that one of the condemned men is half-deaf and partially blind.

Mr Al-Sweikat was tried in June 2016 and sentenced to death by beheading, with the verdict upheld on 25 May this year, according to the US teachers’ union the American Federation of Teachers.

The student has been locked up for the past five years in the eastern city of Dammam, but was recently moved to the capital Riyadh where executions are carried out, along with the other 13 men.

Saudi Arabia uses methods including beheading, stoning and crucifixion to execute its citizens for crimes, including adultery, in the strict Islamic country. Beheadings often take place in public squares where the headless corpses are later put on display.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemen’s Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdom’s Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as “inciting people against the authorities”. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabia’s clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his ‘confession’. At Dawood’s trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

“Saudi Arabia’s threat to behead its own citizens for attending an anti-government protest is an unthinkable and despicable violation of international law and basic humanity,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement.

“We implore President Trump, as the standard-bearer for our great nation, to do everything in his power to stop the atrocities that may otherwise take place in Saudi Arabia.”

The US President was accused of shying away from the country’s record on human rights when he visited Saudi Arabia in May this year, where he is believed to have signed an arms deal worth $110bn (£85bn).

The kingdom is accused of having committed multiple international human rights violations, particularly over its role in the Yemeni conflict in which thousands of men, women and children have died.

Mr al-Sweikat was involved in the waves of protest which engulfed Saudi in 2011-12, beginning when a man set himself on fire and coming on the back of the Arab spring - a series of uprisings in the Middle East.

Saudi security forces swiftly cracked down on the protesters, killing several of the demonstrators and arresting many others. Forty-six of those arrested were executed in January 2016.

Mr Trump has not yet commented on the case of Mr al-Sweikat. In his speech to the Saudis in May, he said: “America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens.

“We are not here to lecture, we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship.

"Instead, we are here to offer partnership, based on shared interests and values—to pursue a better future for us all.”

Ms May has come under similar criticism for the UK’s continued arms deals with Saudi Arabia, which she visited in April this year.

This week, she was forced to deny suppressing a report into the kingdom’s funding of Islamist extremism in Britain to protect the lucrative arms contracts. Ms May claimed the report had been kept confidential on national security grounds.

May denies suppressing report into Saudi Arabia's funding of extremism to protect arms deals

During an urgent question in the House of Commons, Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat international trade spokesman, called on Ms May to use her influence with the Saudis urgently.

He said: “Mr Speaker, our Prime Minister is promoting the UK as a global nation.

“How we respond to the threat of summary executions by a close partner and ally will determine exactly what kind of global nation she intends the UK to be; a global champion of human rights or an apologist for human rights abusers.”

But Foreign Minister Alistair Burt said: “The UK government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country including Saudi Arabia especially for crimes other than the most serious and for juveniles.”

He said assurances had been obtained from the kingdom that anyone who remains a minor would not be executed.

Western Michigan University said it had not known there was “such a troubling reason” behind Mr al-Sweikat’s failure to take up his place at the institution.

“The AFT information makes it clear that the critical national political figures with influence in such a situation are informed,” said a university statement.

“We join the AFT in urging them to use that influence to ask the Saudi government to exhibit compassion.”

Maya Foa, director of UK-based human rights organisation Reprieve, accused Ms May of a "deafening silence" of the 14 imminent executions.

“This is an extremely worrying move from the increasingly brutal regime in Saudi Arabia.

“Minister Alistair Burt is right to make clear the UK’s opposition to the brutal death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but his words stand in stark contrast to the deafening silence from Theresa May on this issue.

"When 14 young men face imminent beheading for protest-related offences, including a disabled man and at least two who were juveniles children when they were arrested, simply raising the cases in private doesn’t cut it.

"The Prime Minister needs to use her visits to the kingdom and deepening ties with its leaders to promote reform, not just tout for trade.