Sons of jailed Saudi scholars urge Cambridge to drop plans to train Riyadh staff

Exclusive: Families of men facing death penalty add to internal opposition to seeking deal with Saudi defence ministry

The families of two scholars facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia have appealed to the University of Cambridge to drop proposals to run staff training courses for Riyadh’s defence ministry.

The Guardian revealed last week that Cambridge’s Judge business school has been authorised to offer “leadership development” and “innovation management” training for the Saudi defence ministry’s staff, despite internal opposition within the university over the kingdom’s record on human rights and academic freedom.