News - Yemen: The head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs Abdulqadir Al-Murtadha disapproved the silence of the United Nations about the crime committed by the Saudi regime against two prisoners of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees.

“The United Nations, being the main sponsor of the prisoner exchange, its position of silence puts it in the circle of suspicion that it is satisfied with such crimes,” Al-Murtadha said. “It is not enough for the United Nations to express to us its denunciation of the Saudi crime in private.”

The Saudi regime executed as many as 81 prisonersincluding seven Yemenis and a Syrian,  in a single day on Saturday over what it called “terror-related offenses,” in the largest mass execution carried out in the kingdom in recent memory. 

Two members of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees, who were captured during the war, were among the executed. 

Earlier, the head of the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs stated that the two prisoners executed by the Saudi regime were among the negotiating list that was submitted to the United Nations some time ago.

He considered that the crime of executing the two prisoners is a disregard for the United Nations, which is sponsoring the current negotiations with the Saudi regime, noting that the Prisoners' Affairs Committee has been in contact with the United Nations since yesterday, asking it to respond and express its position on the heinous crime.

Al-Murtadha confirmed that the crime of executing the two prisoners is a heinous crime that will not go unnoticed and will not be subject to a statute of limitations.

He explained that the crime confirms the tyranny of the Saudi regime, and the timing of the crime came with the world's preoccupation with the events of Ukraine, pointing out that Saudi Arabia has transgressed all norms.

Al-Murtada held the Saudi regime fully responsible for executing the two prisoners, and also held the United Nations responsible as it is concerned with the prisoners' issue.

The executions have been followed by waves of popular protests, especially in the kingdom’s east. Domestic and regional groupings have been issuing condemnatory statements against the country.

In a statement, the Arabian Peninsula Opposition bloc, which is an umbrella for Saudi dissidents, said the 41 executed prisoners, belonged to the peaceful al-Hirak al-Janoubi movement. The bloc of Saudi dissidents called the kingdom’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman “nothing more than a murderer, who enjoys shedding the blood of the innocent,” saying the mass execution was carried out against young people, who had exercised their right to express their opinion and had been imprisoned as a result.

Rights groups condemned the executions, saying “they flew in the face of” claims by bin Salman “that the country was overhauling its justice system and limiting its use of the death penalty.”