HUMAN RIGHTS experts demanded yesterday that Britain drop its bid for contracts in Saudi Arabia’s prison system as it prepares to crucify 21-year-old Ali Mohammed al-Nimr.

Legal action charity Reprieve welcomed the British Foreign Office’s intention to question the case against Mr Nimr.

But Reprieve’s death penalty head Maya Foa pointed out that supporting the Saudis in other ways shows “that we condone the most extreme abuses.”

Mr Nimr was arrested in May 2012 when he was 17 and was tortured until he “confessed” to taking part in pro-democracy protests in the feudal kingdom.

Despite later recanting the statement he was sentenced to crucifixion by the secretive Specialised Criminal Court. He found out last week that the sentence had been upheld without his knowledge.

Mr Nimr could be executed at any time, with his head cut off and corpse displayed in public.

But British officials have refused to drop bids for Saudi contracts, claiming that “withdrawing at this late stage would be detrimental to (the government’s) wider interests.”