Saudi protesters to be executed despite crown prince's bid to modernise

Saudi Justice Ministry said the 14 were convicted of 'terrorist crimes'

Saudi Arabia's new crown prince hopes to transform the kingdom and modernize society, but the planned execution of 14 Shiite protesters charged with violence against security forces suggests the government's handling of sectarian tensions and unrest remains unchanged.

The country's supreme court recently upheld the death penalty in the case, raising concerns among rights activists that the group could be executed at any moment.

Human rights groups allege the trial was unfair, saying the defendants' confessions were extracted under duress and that some did not have lawyers present in court. Three of the defendants were 17 years old when the alleged crimes were committed.

A defence lawyer contacted by The Associated Press declined to speak, saying he is officially barred from talking about the case with the media.

The mother of one of the defendants said her son's lawyer was pressured to quit his defence and so withdrew from the trial, leaving her son to represent himself.

"He had to defend himself and answer his own questions in court," said Zahra Abdullah, the mother of defendant Munir al-Adam. "I am demanding either a just trial or their release," she added. "To issue the death penalty for protests isn't right."

Also facing execution is Mujtaba al-Sweikat, a young Saudi man who had been accepted to attend Western Michigan University before his arrest. The American Federation of Teachers, which says it represents 1.6 million members nationwide, is urging President Donald Trump to demand that Saudi Arabia halt the executions.

In response to the outcry, the Saudi Justice Ministry issued a rare statement defending its judicial process and the verdicts. It said the 14 were convicted of "terrorist crimes" that included killing civilians and security officers.

The ministry said the group received a fair trial, and that three different courts and a total of 13 judges examined the case. The ministry said severe punishment is handed down only in cases where the most dangerous crimes are committed.

Abdullah says her son took part in protests to demand equality and greater rights. Among the charges he faced were throwing rocks at police and firing on a police checkpoint. She says her son denies the charge of firing on police.

Scholars of Islamic law, or Shariah, hold vastly different views on the application of the death penalty. Under the kingdom's interpretation of Shariah, judges have wide discretion to rule and hand down death sentences for lethal as well as non-lethal offences.

The kingdom has one of the highest rates of execution in the world.