Arabia has overturned Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh's death sentence. However, the court upholds the conviction, claiming that Fayadh has committed apostasy and should be sent eight years in prison with 800 lashes over 16 sessions.
BBC News reported that Ashraf Fayadh denied the charges and claimed that another man had made false accusations against him. The death sentence of Fayadh caused a global outcry among hundreds of actors, artists, and writers asking for his release.
Last year on November, Fayadh was initially sentenced to death by a court in Abha, a Saudi city located southwest. According to CNN, Fayadh was charged in a series of blasphemy related to his poems. Abdulrahman al-Lahim, Fayadh's lawyer, said the defense planned to appeal the court's decision, saying Fayadh is not guilty of any charges and should be freed. Al-Rahim also said that the court in Abha ruled that Fayadh should have to issue an announcement of repentance in official media.
According to Amnesty International, the poet was arrested in August 2013 after a Saudi citizen alleged that he was spreading blasphemous ideas and was promoting atheism. He was released the next day but rearrested in January 2014. Fayadh was then charged with apostasy or the renunciation of religious belief.
A Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, Adam Coogle said that instead of beheading Ashraf Fayadh, the Saudi court has ordered a lengthy imprisonment and flogging. Coogle insisted that the officials of Saud must immediately intervene to vacate this unjust sentence, as reported by The Guardian.
Hundreds of artists, actors and writers, including actor Helen Mirren and British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, have appealed for his release. There was about more than 60 international arts and human rights group have launched a campaign calling on Saud officials and western governments to save him.
Saudi Arabia's strict code of Islam mean the crimes of armed robbery, drug trafficking, rape, murder, and apostasy are all punishable by death. In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people.
