Mass execution in Saudi Arabia: 81 people sentenced to death die in one day
Created: 03/12/2022, 20:40
By: Kathrin Reikowski
Saudi Arabia, Jeddah: Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia - more people were executed in one day in Saudi Arabia than ever before.
© Mandel Ngan/Pool AFP/AP/dpa
More people will be executed in Saudi Arabia on Saturday than in 2021 combined.
The Gulf monarchy has long been under international criticism for mass executions.
Riyadh/Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia executed 81 people on Saturday.
According to state media reports, more people were executed in one day than in all of 2021.
They were convicted of terrorism charges.
"Just last week, the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman) told journalists that he wanted to modernize Saudi Arabia's criminal justice system, only to order the largest mass execution in the country's history," said Reprieve, a UK-based human rights group.
According to the official SPA news agency, all 81 of those executed had connections to "Islamic State, al-Qaeda, the Houthis and other terrorist organizations".
The actions of the authorities in the Gulf monarchy have been condemned by human rights organizations.
Saudi Arabia has long been criticized for having one of the highest execution rates in the world and its opaque judicial system.
A Saudi Arabian blogger was released on Friday after ten years in prison.
Saudi Arabia: Highest number of executions ever reported in one day
In all of last year, 69 death sentences were carried out in Saudi Arabia, and according to AFP counts, eleven people had been executed in 2022 as of Friday.
According to SPA, 73 of those executed on Saturday were Saudi Arabian nationals, seven were Yemenis and one was Syrian.
All 81 have been convicted of "multiple heinous crimes" by Saudi Arabian courts.
Accordingly, they had planned attacks on important facilities or members of the security forces and smuggled weapons into the country.
They are responsible for the deaths of civilians and security forces.
Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In recent months, there have been several attacks by the Houthi rebels in Saudi Arabia.
Executions in Saudi Arabia: Death row inmate sentenced to 14 years on hunger strike
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has announced a series of prison reforms, including a moratorium on the death penalty for drug-related offenses and the abolition of court flogging.
In April 2020, the Kingdom also announced that it would abolish the death penalty for people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18.
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A death row inmate on hunger strike was taken to hospital on Saturday after collapsing, according to Reprieve and relatives.
Abdullah al-Howaiti was 14 years old when he was arrested in 2017 on charges of armed robbery and killing a police officer.
He was sentenced to death in 2019, and the sentence was upheld in a retrial last month.
(AFP/kat)