Mother's Heartbreak as Son Executed in Saudi Arabia's Record Capital Punishment Year
Essam al-Shazly, a 28-year-old Egyptian fisherman, spent his final four years on death row in Saudi Arabia before being executed in what human rights groups describe as a "deeply flawed" judicial process. His mother, speaking anonymously from the family home in Hurghada, Egypt, claims her son was coerced into drug smuggling and forced to make a false confession.
Daily Calls from Death Row
Throughout his imprisonment, Shazly's mother maintained daily telephone contact with her son, becoming his sole connection to the outside world. "He would tell me, 'Mom, I talk to you because I want to forget what I'm going through. Don't ask me anything about prison,'" she recalls from their Red Sea coastal home.
Despite the grim circumstances, she clung to hope that Shazly would escape what human rights organizations term Saudi Arabia's "horrifying" surge in executions under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rule. The kingdom recorded 356 executions last year alone, marking a record high in capital punishment.
Coercion Claims and Flawed Confessions
Shazly's case reveals troubling patterns in Saudi Arabia's justice system. According to his mother, her son—who fished for a living—was thrown into the Red Sea by smugglers near a floating car tyre containing amphetamine pills, opium and heroin. Saudi officials discovered him in the water and subsequently charged him with drug trafficking.
"He thought it was a minor issue and just prison," his mother explains. "Then he called me, crying: 'Mom, they've sentenced me to death.' He was terrified."
Human rights organizations describe trials like Shazly's as involving "confessions extracted under torture" and being "deeply flawed" in their procedures. A clemency petition filed last November highlighted serious inconsistencies in Shazly's confession statements, where he alternately claimed ignorance about the drugs' contents and appeared to describe their quantities in detail.
The 'Death Wing' and International Silence
Shazly spent his final days in Tabuk prison's notorious "death wing," where inmates reportedly went days without seeing sunlight. "Mom, we don't see the sun," he told his mother during one of their calls.
While Saudi Arabia projects an international image of reform through hosting major sporting events like the 2034 World Cup, the execution of hundreds of mostly impoverished foreigners for non-violent drug crimes receives minimal international attention. Many face death sentences for trafficking offences involving promises of just a few hundred dollars.
Families Left Without Support
Shazly's mother describes how families of death row inmates receive little assistance from their embassies and cannot afford legal representation. "We are poor and live day by day," she says, highlighting the economic vulnerability that makes foreign nationals particularly susceptible to harsh sentencing.
In December 2024, thirty-three Egyptians occupied Tabuk's death wing alongside Shazly, all facing execution for non-violent drug offences. Just over a year later, only six remain alive.
Final Days and Unanswered Questions
Shazly's mental health deteriorated during imprisonment, with his mother revealing he had previously been admitted to a mental health facility in Egypt before his arrest. While in Tabuk prison, he refused meals and required hospital treatment. "He told me afterwards, when he had got out of hospital and recovered a little, that he wanted to die," his mother recalls.
On December 16th, instead of receiving her son's daily call, Shazly's mother answered to his cellmate's voice. The fellow inmate reported that guards had taken Shazly at eight o'clock that morning, with his final words being a request for forgiveness from his family.
Saudi officials maintain they will continue imposing "the severest penalties prescribed by law against drug smugglers and traffickers," citing the protection of society and prevention of corruption. Meanwhile, families like Shazly's receive neither their loved ones' bodies nor information about burial locations, according to legal action charity Reprieve.
As Shazly's mother mourns without closure, her question echoes for countless other families: "The fault lies with the judge; don't they have any mercy at all? Drugs are harmful it is true, but you caught a carrier, he is not a dealer. Punish him for that."
