Saudi Arabia, one of the countries with the highest use of the death penalty, executed two men on Saturday, bringing the number of executions in the kingdom to six since the start of the year, the agency reported. Saudi official.
The former was found guilty of attempting to blow up an oil installation and shooting several members of the security forces, the SPA agency said, without giving details of the date or the toll of possible victims. of the attack.
A second man was executed after being found guilty of "
forcibly committing an act of obscene sodomy
" on minors, the agency said.
Both executions were carried out in the Mecca region in the west of the country.
They bring to six the number of killings since the beginning of the year in Saudi Arabia.
Four people accused of kidnapping and killing a man were executed three days ago in the Al-Baha region in the southwest.
129.5 executions per year on average since 2015
More than 1,000 death sentences have been carried out since King Salman and his son Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler, came to power in 2015, according to a report by the British organization Reprieve and the Saudi European Organization for Human Rights. Man, published at the beginning of the year.
The number of executions in the wealthy Gulf monarchy has fallen from an average of 70.8 per year between 2010 and 2014 to 129.5 per year since the current king came to power in 2015, according to the same source.
Read alsoSaudi Arabia: surge in executions under the reign of King Salman
Saturday's executions demonstrate
the government's "will to establish security and deliver justice
" and should serve as a warning to other potential offenders, SPA added citing the Interior Ministry.
Last March, Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 81 people in a single day for terrorism-related crimes, sparking international outcry.
However, Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the American magazine The Atlantic last March that the kingdom had "
got rid
" of the death penalty, except for cases of murder or when the accused "
threatens the lives of many people
," according to the transcript of the interview published by Saudi state media.
