Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr; and what steps he is taking to condemn such acts and prevent their re-occurrence.

We understand that Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has been sentenced to death. It is still possible for him to appeal the decision, and we will not be making representations while the legal process is ongoing.

The death penalty undermines human dignity and its abolition is a human rights priority for the UK. Ministers, our Ambassador in Riyadh and the Embassy team raise the issue of the death penalty with the Saudi authorities, both bilaterally and through the European Union. We recognise that total abolition of the death penalty is unlikely in Saudi Arabia in the near future. Our focus is therefore on the introduction of EU minimum standards for the death penalty as a first step, and on supporting access to justice and rule of law.