A man who posted a video online of himself desecrating the Holy Quran is to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for “renouncing his Muslim faith”.
The unnamed prisoner, in his 20s, was given the death sentence by the country’s Sharia courts for the offence of apostasy – abandoning Islam – the English speaking Saudi Gazette reports.
The court in the city of Hafr Al-Batin sentenced the man to death for denouncing his Muslim faith and ‘various other acts of blasphemy.’
“The death sentence was issued after his apostasy was proven,” said the court.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested the man last year and his case was forwarded to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.
Deviation from the nation’s enforced Sunni faith is harshly punished, as is anything that is deemed an insult to the faith.