TABUK — The Iraqi government has pardoned a Saudi prisoner who became the youngest to be incarcerated when he entered the country aged only 16. Jaber Al-Maree, 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally crossing Iraqi borders but will now be deported to the Kingdom. Thamer Al-Belaihid, head of the committee for Saudi prisoners in Iraq, said Al-Maree would return to the Kingdom after Iraqi authorities complete all necessary arrangements. Al-Maree has been incarcerated in Al-Karakh Prison in Baghdad. He is the only Saudi prisoner there and speaks the Iraqi dialect. “Al-Maree is the second Saudi prisoner in Iraq who was granted a pardon, which was announced two weeks ago.” Three years ago, Al-Maree was sentenced to death but later the sentence was commuted to 15 years in prison. Currently, there are 61 Saudi prisoners in Iraq.
