Abdullah al-Zaher Was Released From Prison in 2021
The Claim
Abdullah Al-Zaher, who was arrested at the age of 13 in 2012, was recently beheaded by the Saudi regime.
News posted on
Emerging story
Following his arrest in 2012 at the age of 13, social media users alleged that the Saudi Arabian regime beheaded a young boy named Abdullah al-Zaher. Verified users also shared the claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
The claim was found to be false after an investigation by Misbar. By reviewing and researching local news outlets, it was discovered that while Zaher was arrested, he was not executed. According to Amnesty International, Abdullah al-Zaher was 16 years old when he was arrested while other local news outlets reported him to be 15 years old. He was arrested in Saudi Arabia because he took part in protests. In 2014, he was sentenced to death because of "confessions" he made. He was charged and sentenced along with two other boys, Ali al-Nimr and Daoud al-Marhoon.
However, in August 2020, the Saudi Human Rights Commission issued a statement on their official, verified Twitter account, reversing the execution and re-sentencing the three boys. The statement is shown below.
ALQST, an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to defend human rights in Saudi Arabia, also confirmed the new sentence via their Twitter account, shown below.
Zaher was released from prison in November 2021, after serving his sentence.
Furthermore, the photo accompanying the circulating claim is misleading and was not taken at the time of his arrest. The news comes against the backdrop that Saudi Arabia executed 81 men in one day. Based on the findings, the Misbar team confirms that the claim is false and that, despite being arrested, Zaher was not executed but rather released after serving his sentence.
