Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on the (a) adequacy of the trial and (b) use of the death penalty in the case of (i) Abdullah al-Derazi and (ii) Jalal Labbad in that country.

We continue to monitor the cases of the young men, including Abdullah al-Derazi and Jala Labbad, who allegedly committed their crimes as minors and are at risk of execution. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon has raised these cases with the Saudi authorities as a priority. During Saudi Arabia's Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council on 22 January, the UK Government recommended that Saudi Arabia abolish the juvenile death penalty and conduct thorough investigations into individuals who may have been minors at the time of their alleged crimes.