20/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The EU has strongly condemned Saudi Arabia's execution, on 12 May 2009, of seven offenders. In a statement issued on 20 May by the Czech Presidency, the EU repeats its opposition to the death penalty “in all cases and in all circumstances”. The EU is particularly concerned that two of those executed, Sultan Bin Sulayman Bin Muslim al-Muwallad and 'Issa Bin Muhammad 'Umar Muhammad were juveniles at the time of the crimes of which they were found guilty. Their execution ran counter, therefore, to Saudi Arabia's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989, which Saudi Arabia ratified on 26 January 1996 and which states that neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age. (H.B./transl.rt)