Seventy-three Saudis, seven Yemenis and one Syrian. Saudi Arabia in one day, on Saturday, March 12, executed 81 people sentenced to death for crimes related to “terrorism”. This unprecedented number exceeds the number of all death sentences handed down in the kingdom in 2021.
Those executed “were found guilty of several serious crimes” in the country, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. The agency reports that among them are people associated with the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), the al-Qaeda network and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. They were sentenced to death for “attacking places of worship, government buildings and installations vital to the country’s economy” as well as “crimes of kidnapping, torture, rape and arms smuggling”, again according to SPA. “These crimes resulted in the death of a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers,” she added.
Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by decapitation.
Read alsoSaudi blogger Raif Badawi released after ten years in prison for “insulting Islam”
One of the highest execution rates in the world
For several years, the kingdom has been subjected to a series of deadly attacks by ISIS. He is also the target of attacks by the Houthis from neighboring warring Yemen. Riyadh has been supporting the Yemeni government in the fight against the Houthis since 2015.
“The Kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the whole world,” the SPA agency further reports.
See also: According to UNICEF, about fifty children were killed or maimed in Yemen in two months.
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world, with 69 people killed in 2021, according to Agence France-Presse, based on official statements. This absolute monarchy has been endowed since 1992 with a Basic Law equivalent to the Constitution, based on Sharia, Islamic law. Murder, rape, armed robbery, witchcraft, adultery, sodomy, homosexuality and apostasy are punishable by death in an ultra-conservative kingdom.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia announced the abolition of the death penalty for those convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18.
The executions announced on Saturday came a day after the release of blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for advocating an end to religion’s influence on public life in Saudi Arabia.
After serving his sentence, the former 38-year-old winner of the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award is still subject to a travel ban from Saudi Arabia for the next ten years.
See also: Guantanamo detainee linked to 9/11 attacks repatriated to Saudi Arabia