An MP has said the Saudi ownership of Newcastle United should lead to greater focus on the violence and repression of the country's government and not "sportswash" it.
Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central, was unable to be in the Chamber on Monday for the Urgent Question on the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. However she said it's an issue which many of her constituents feel strongly about.
The 57-year-old, who has represented Newcastle Central since May 2010, has released a statement in which she has expressed her condemnation of the death penalty. She said to hold Newcastle United fans accountable for the country's human rights abuses is to "misdirect" legitimate anger.
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Chi said: "The reality is that Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth fund is the effective owner of Newcastle United, continues to have an atrocious human rights record - in some respects, such as the treatment of women, among the worst in the world. This does not reflect the values of our city.
"To hold Newcastle United fans accountable for Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses, as some have sought to do, is to misdirect legitimate anger. Instead, we need to campaign for more transparency and accountability in football, and a bigger say for fans and I pledge to keep up that fight as long as I have the privilege to serve the people of Newcastle.
"In May of this year I raised in Parliament the horrific massacre of 81 people in Saudi Arabia. Saudi ownership of Newcastle United should lead to greater focus on the violence and repression of the Saudi government, not sportswash it."
Chi said Saudi Arabia has executed 17 people since November 10 this year - taking the total number of those executed by the Saudi state in 2022 to more than 140. She said: "The use of the death penalty is abhorrent wherever it takes place."
She said that if she had been in the Chamber on Monday she would have again condemned the brutal executions carried out by Saudi Arabia, as well as the use of torture to force 'confessions'. Chi said: "Everyone has the right to a free and fair trial."
She added: "The government must use their bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia to foster positive change, including ending executions and the wider crackdown on freedom of expression and activism."
A consortium made up of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben Brothers took over Newcastle United in October 2021.
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