Essam al-Shazly was a 28-year-old Egyptian national who Saudi Arabia executed. His case has generated enormous outrage, prospective diplomatic controversies, and focused a bright spotlight on the kingdom’s draconian drug laws. His death, which occurred after four years on death row, raises questions about judicial mercy and the treatment of individuals involved in non-violent drug offenses.
Al-Shazly’s road to execution began in the most theatrical fashion. Officials discovered him in the Red Sea alongside a floating automobile tire stuffed with amphetamines, opium and heroin. He was hit with heavy drug trafficking charges. Though he bows to the fiction that he only smuggled because he was threatened, he acted as he did because of dire conditions. His mother said she couldn’t understand why her son had to die in tragedy. She disclosed that he was a commercial fisherman and had been suffering from debilitating depression prior to his arrest.
By December 2024, al-Shazly was on death row. He was one of the 33 Egyptians incarcerated inside a wing of Saudi Arabia’s most notorious prison, in Tabuk, north of Riyadh. His mother was the only link to the outside world during his time in prison, suffering as she watched her son deteriorate. Al-Shazly had been voluntarily admitted to a mental health facility in Egypt. Though in prison he lost all control of his mental health.
His mother, especially in the days leading up to his execution, described the loss with profound regret. Al-Shazly had confided in her that he was hopeless and scared, thinking he was going to be executed. To him, it was a small potatoes deal and just prison. He called me, crying: ‘Mom, they’ve sentenced me to death.’ He was terrified,” she recalled.
On the day of his execution, guards removed him at eight o’clock in the morning. His cellmate later recounted that al-Shazly’s last words were a request for forgiveness to his family. Despite the gravity of the situation, he shared a glimmer of hope with his mother, saying, “Keep this money for my sisters. If I am destined to die, I will die.”
Having previously boycotted meals served in prison, Al-Shazly was briefly hospitalized during his time in Tabuk. His mother felt that failure to provide proper treatment was a direct cause of her son’s suffering. For years she felt like she was waiting for a spark, counting the days until he could return home and they could be reunited. “I was always thinking about the day he would come back,” she said.
In practice, Saudi Arabia takes a hard line on most drug offenses, resulting in disproportionately severe penalties that have attracted condemnation even from UN experts. Al-Shazly’s case particularly highlights the kingdom’s approach to punishing those involved in drug trafficking, even when they are simply carriers rather than dealers. His mother lamented the judicial system, stating, “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.”
The emotional distress placed on al-Shazly’s family has been tremendous. Here was a mother’s hopes for all brighter days. She dreamily prepared to greet him home with a new dress and a procession through their West Virginia hometown. “I was going to take him around in the car and show him all the places he once knew,” she remembered wistfully.
Despite efforts from various advocacy groups seeking clemency for those facing execution for non-violent offenses, al-Shazly’s fate serves as a stark reminder of the harsh realities within Saudi Arabia’s legal system. The kingdom continues to withhold the bodies of those they execute, never telling the family where the body has been buried. This still leaves grieving relatives without closure.
“This is a message from God that he will save you,” said al-Shazly’s mother, reflecting her unwavering hope during her son’s darkest moments.