In 2011 and 2012, Jalal al-Labbad participated in demonstrations to protest against the treatment of the Shiite minority in al-Qatif and the funerals of the victims who were killed by government forces during protests.
On February 23, 2017, he was brutally arrested in his family home in al-Awamiyah, by security forces. Since then, he has been subjected to severe acts of torture, put in solitary confinement and was denied communication with the outside world for prolonged periods of time. Because of the intensity of the beatings and acts of torture, he was hospitalized several times and suffers from chronic pain.
In July 2019, Jalal al-Labbad’s trial began before the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh. He faced several charges related to his participation in demonstrations, marches, and funerals. At least one of the charges relates to act he had committed while he was still fifteen years old, namely attending funerals of victims.
On July 31, 2022, the Specialised Criminal Court issued a Ta’azir death sentence against Jalal al-Labbad as part of its discretionary power to do so. He was found guilty of charges relating to acts allegedly committed when he was a minor. On October 4, 2022, the Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal upheld the sentence.
On June 14, 2023, MENA Rights Group and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights file a Request for Opinion to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, asking to recognize the arbitrariness of his detention and urge the Saudi authorities to release him or at least commute the sentence to a less severe one.
On October 13, 2023, MENA Rights Group and ESOHR have learned that the Supreme Court held hearings in secret, without the presence of the victims or his lawyers and gave a ruling upholding the death sentence of al-Labbad. His family has never been formally notified of the final decision.
On November 15, 2024, the UN WGAD issued its Opinion No. 71/2024, where it determined that al-Labbad had been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty “without a proper basis in law” and in violation of his rights to a fair trial and to non-discrimination. Furthermore, the Working Group found that he was arrested and charged on the basis of acts that fell within his rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association “guaranteed under articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Additionally, the UN WGAD determined that the Saudi authorities violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Saudi Arabia is a State Party, as there is a risk that he was “detained and sentenced to death based on acts committed prior to the age of 18 years.”
On August 21, 2025, the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced the execution of Jalal al-Labbad.
