The holy month of Muslim fasting is traditionally a time of truce. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries with the most death penalties in the world.
Saudi Arabia, one of the countries with the most death penalties in the world, has executed a man during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, traditionally a time of ceasefire, a Saudi NGO instructed on Monday.
The oil-rich Gulf monarchy executed a cleric for murder on March 28, five days into the start of Ramadan, in the region of Medina (west), home to the city of the same name, Islam’s second holiest site. according to the official SPA news agency.
“Saudi Arabia imposed the death penalty on a citizen in the month of Ramadan,” the Euro-Saudi Human Rights Organization (ESOHR) said in a statement.
81 people executed in a single day in March 2022
According to this Berlin-based NGO, no convict has been executed during this holy month “since 2009” at least “in the past 14 years”, citing data published by the Ministry of the Interior.
At least 17 death sentences have been carried out in the country since the beginning of the year, ESOHR added. In total, more than 1,000 death sentences have been carried out since King Salman came to power in 2015 and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, came to the throne, according to a report by the British organization Reprieve and ESOHR.
In March 2022, the country had executed 81 people in a single day, sparking an outcry abroad, with NGOs denouncing “mass executions”. The authorities, anxious to soften their image internationally, say they want to limit the death penalty to extreme cases.