The bishops have appealed for a halt to the executions of 58 Ethiopians — most of them Orthodox Christians — currently on death row in the state, some of whom have been convicted of smuggling cannabis into Saudi Arabia, which, the Bishops say, was the result of criminal traffickers’ coercing them into transporting goods inadvertently. “We do not write to lecture, but to appeal,” the Bishops write in their letter from the House of Lords, dated 24 July. The Christians have allegedly been singled out for mistreatment. “We are aware of accounts from several of these men that during transfers to court hearings, Saudi police officers discovered the crosses they were wearing around their necks, forcibly removed them and physically assaulted them,” wrote Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani (Chelmsford), the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun (Southwark, whose last day in office is next Tuesday), and the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen (Winchester).