A 17-year-old student, Mujtaba'a Al-Sweikat from Saudi Arabia, who was detained on his way to visit a US college is set to be beheaded in his home country for attending a peaceful pro-democracy rally, according to rights watchdogs.


On Friday, Al-Sweikat, who was arrested in 2012 and 13 other prisoners accused of attending the rally, one disabled man, were transferred to the Saudi capital of Riyadh, where executions take place, according to human rights group Reprieve.

'This is an extremely worrying move from the increasingly brutal regime in Saudi Arabia,' Maya Foa, director of Reprieve, said in a statement.

'To execute a disabled man and a juvenile protester would be an appalling breach of international law and world leaders cannot stand silently by and let this happen,' said Foa.

"Mujtaba’a and others were arrested for attending a peaceful, anti-government protest, for which they were sentenced to death, a despicable violation of international law and basic humanity,' the AFT said in a statement.