… In Saudi Arabia it is against the law for Muslims to abandon their faith, and Christians and other religious minorities are subjected to discrimination, harassment, detention and in rare cases torture and death.

There have been numerous documented cases of Saudi nationals being uplifted from foreign countries. In 2012, columnist Hamza Kashgari, who’d been accused of insulting the prophet Mohammad on Twitter, tried to seek asylum in New Zealand but was intercepted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, sent home and jailed without trial.

In May last year, a young Saudi Christian who had arrived in Auckland two months earlier and claimed asylum was snatched off the street by three men just three days before his refugee interview and was flown back to Saudi Arabia, where it is believed he spent time in prison and was tortured. His lawyer, Roger Chambers, said the man had managed to secretly make contact with his friends in Auckland.

“He has had a dreadful time in Saudi Arabia,” Chambers said. “[He was told] more than once if he did not renounce his Christianity that he could expect to be beheaded.” …

~Tony Wall and Blair Ensor
“Fears for Saudi Christian Converts,” Stuff (New Zealand’s award-winning news and information Web site), 24 Aug. 2014. Web