Saudi Arabia to execute man for being at protests and funerals when he was 15

The supreme court has reportedly upheld Youssef al-Manasif’s death penalty for offences committed as a minor. Last year Saudi Arabia put to death 356 people. Photograph: Handout

A young man faces imminent execution in Saudi Arabia for attending protests and funerals when he was aged 15 to 17, say human rights groups, in the latest example of the kingdom’s surging use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes.

Youssef al-Manasif was arrested in 2017 and accused of crimes including joining demonstrations for religious freedom by the Shia minority and attending funerals that the Saudi authorities deem to be protests. He was convicted and sentenced to death by the specialised criminal court, a secretive tribunal set up for terrorism-related cases.