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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.

Indonesia urged not to execute Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, who has been diagnosed as mentally ill

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The family of a Brazilian man in line to be executed in Indonesia along with two Australian drug smugglers has appealed for a reprieve, saying he has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic who is delusional with psychotic tendencies.

Rodrigo Gularte, 42, was sentenced to death in 2005 after he was caught smuggling 6kg of cocaine into Indonesia hidden inside surfboards.

The Brazilian surfer is among 11 death row inmates, including the two Australians convicted for their part in the 2005 Bali Nine drug smuggling plot, and citizens of France, Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines. All were due to be executed by firing squad this month.

As diplomatic pressure has mounted and public outcry in Australia has grown, the executions have been postponed, but officials say the delay is only temporary.

The Gularte family knows they are in a race against time to bring the details of their case to light.

With no legal representation in court during his trial in 2005 – his lawyer took the money and ran – questions about Gularte’s mental stability are only just emerging.

To his family, Gularte was a goodhearted but troubled teenager who started using drugs to treat his depression and ended up down the wrong path.

Rodrigo Gularte was a keen surfer as a teenager. He was arrested while smuggling six kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia hidden inside surfboards.

After he was sentenced to death Gularte attempted suicide by self-immolation in his prison cell and his mental state has continued to deteriorate since.


Source: The Guardian, February 19, 2015

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Location: Bali, Indonesia
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