Nov 7, 2018

Amnesty International said on Wednesday it feared 12 minority Shiites in Saudi Arabia faced "imminent" execution after their cases were transferred to a powerful security body that reports directly to the king.

The men, sentenced to death in a mass trial in 2016 after being convicted of spying for regional rival Iran, have been handed over to the "Presidency of State Security", which was set up last year by combining all counterterrorism and domestic intelligence services.

"The families of the men are terrified by this development and the lack of information provided to them on the status of the cases of their loved ones," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director.

"Given the secrecy surrounding Saudi Arabia's judicial proceedings, we fear that this development signals the imminent execution of the 12 men."

Morayef added that the men were sentenced to death after a "grossly unfair mass trial".