Canada PM Trudeau again raises concern over Saudi activists who might face death penalty

The two countries are presently having a bitter relationship after Canada had criticised Saudi Arabia for its treatment of the human rights. Saudi Arabia also accused Canada of interfering into its internal matters.

Interacting with media in British Columbia (BC), Trudeau said as he has been quoted by The Telegraph, "I think it's important to have positive relationships with countries around the world."

"At the same time, we have expressed our concern with the sentence handed down by Saudi Arabia, our concern for defending human rights and our shared values all around the world," said he.

"Canada will continue to stand up strongly for human rights," the Prime Minister added.

Human Rights groups said the Saudi Arabian prosecutors are seeking death penalty for the activists.

However, the Saudi government has not yet confirmed the death penalty of the human rights activists.

In early August, Canada had expressed grave concern about the arrest of human rights activists, including Saudi-American women's rights campaigner Samar Badawi, by Saudi authorities.

Demanding release of the activists, Canada's Foreign Ministry had tweeted: "Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists."

Responding to Canada's request, Saudi Arabia had said it was an attack on the kingdom and had granted the Canadian ambassador 24 hours after considering the latter persona non grata. 

Escalating tension between the two countries, Saudi Arabia had even issued orders to eliminate new Canadian investments, Financial Times reported.

The Saudi government also asked all its countrymen residing in Canadian hospitals to leave the North American country.

Saudi Ministry of Education spokesperson Mubarak Alosaimi tweeted to say that he had been instructed to stop all education programmes including scholarship, training programmes and fellowships in Canada.

Saudi Arabia also suspended its airline operations in Canada.

Despite Saudi Arabia's multiple steps, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said his government is not considering any retaliatory measure against Saudi Arabia immediately.