Death row inmates desperate to escape execution in Saudi Arabia call the BBC

Some Ethiopian inmates got hold of the number for the BBC Tigrinya service and called from a prison phone to tell their stories There was desperation in the voice of the young Ethiopian man when he managed to get through to the BBC from a phone in his prison cell on death row in Saudi Arabia.

Without referring to the death penalty specifically, Ethiopia's foreign ministry did release a statement on 13 July saying it was in regular contact with the Saudi authorities "pursuing appropriate remedies for Ethiopian citizens facing difficult circumstances"."It may also be linked to Saudi Arabia's expanding use of the death penalty for drug-related offences in recent years," Amnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed tells the BBC.