Bangladesh's foreign ministry and its mission in Saudi Arabia were not informed in advance of the execution of two Bangladeshi nationals in the kingdom, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Saturday, adding that Dhaka had written to Riyadh seeking details.

Bangladesh learned of the executions on October 14, Shama Obaed told reporters at the foreign ministry. The ministry has sent a letter to the Saudi government seeking details of the case.

According to information from the labour welfare wing of the Bangladesh mission in Saudi Arabia, the two were reportedly involved in adultery inside a mosque in Mecca. The mission believes Saudi authorities may have acted under the kingdom's legal framework, which treats the offence as a grave crime, but no official details have yet been received from Riyadh.

“The two Bangladeshis were sentenced to death under Saudi law and the sentence was carried out,” the state minister said. “We learned of it on October 14. Since our foreign ministry and our mission in Saudi Arabia were not informed in advance, the foreign ministry has sent a letter to the Saudi government seeking details.”

The state minister said the names of the two were known, but further information, including how long they had worked in Saudi Arabia and who their employer was, had been sought from Riyadh. A decision on repatriating the bodies would be made once that information was received.

The Bangladesh mission has also written to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, since the two had gone to Saudi Arabia for work.

Asked why the mission was not informed in advance, Shama said she would not comment until the Saudi government responded. She added that Bangladesh could have made the necessary preparations if it had known earlier.

She stressed that Bangladeshi expatriates must abide by the laws of the countries where they work. She also said Bangladesh's ability to assist its citizens was limited when they violated the laws of their host countries. “When foreigners commit crimes in our country, they go to jail under our laws,” she said. “This can be a lesson for us.”

The state minister expressed sorrow over the executions, calling the news unfortunate. She said relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia remained strong, with multiple meetings between the prime minister and Saudi representatives since the new government was formed, and an invitation for the prime minister to attend a conference in the kingdom. But she said there were concerns about Bangladeshi workers amid the Middle East conflict and security risks in the country.

“We are already distressed over the war. Our people are falling into danger there. Many are still in hospital injured, and some have been killed,” she said. “Our mission was not aware of when or how this incident happened.”

Separately, the state minister said the process of repatriating the bodies of two other Bangladeshis killed in Saudi Arabia due to the conflict was underway. She said Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia were completing the necessary formalities and that these deaths were separate from the executions in Mecca.