Saudi Court Sentences Man to Death for Attacking Spanish Theatre Group While Performing in Riyadh

A Saudi Arabia court sentenced a man to death for attacking a Spanish theatre group while performing in Riyadh, according to state-run media.

Saudi Arabia’s Penal Court handed another man a 12-year-and-half prison sentence for helping the main defendant commit the crime in November, Efe news reported quoted Al Ekhbariya channel as saying on Sunday.

During the trial that began on December 19, the man sentenced to death was accused of terrorist acts and attempt to prevent the organisation and celebration of leisure activities in the ultraconservative country.

The convict, identified by Saudi police as a 33-year-old Yemeni, attacked actors with a knife, leaving three of them injured.

The attack was carried out on the orders of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to the channel.

The attack took place at the King Abdullah Park, where the theatre group was performing as part of a cultural festival organised by the Saudi authorities.