King ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud

Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court
Riyadh
Saudi Arabia

Your Majesty

Nigerian national Suliamon Olyfemi remains at risk of execution in Saudi Arabia following an unfair trial. He was detained during a mass arrest of African nationals in September 2002 after a policeman died in an alleged dispute with migrant workers. He has always maintained his innocence.

After his arrest, Suliamon Olyfemi was made to put his fingerprints on documents written in Arabic, which he could not read. It is possible that the fingerprints served as a signature, and that the documents were used against him during his trial. The trial itself was conducted in Arabic and no interpretation or translation was provided. Suliamon Olyfemi was not given any legal representation and in late 2004 he was sentenced to death.

Suliamon Olyfemi has exhausted all possibilities of appeal and could be executed at any time.

I call for Suliamon Olyfemi’s death sentence to be commuted.

Sincerely,

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