Saudi Arabia executes seven people in one day

Saudi Arabia had the third highest execution rate in the world in 2017, after China and Iran, according to Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia has executed 73 people this year, 150 in 2017.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed seven death row inmates who had been convicted of murder and drug trafficking, state media reported.

Two Saudi citizens and three Chad nationals were executed after being sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of a Pakistani security guard, with the alleged intent of robbing the warehouse he was protecting, according to the state-run SPA agency.

Another Saudi Arabian was executed for murder after setting a man on fire, SPA reported.

A Lebanese national was executed for attempting to smuggle captagon into the kingdom, SPA said.

Captagon, a drug popular among fighters in war zones, usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances in pill form.

Tuesday's executions bring to 73 the total number of people put to death in the kingdom this year, according to a tally by AFP.

The ultra-conservative kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia had the third highest execution rate in the world in 2017, after China and Iran, according to Amnesty International.

Rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom, governed under a strict form of Islamic law.

The government says the death penalty is a deterrent for further crime.

In April, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, next in line to the throne, suggested the kingdom would consider changing the penalty from death to life in certain cases except murder, in an interview with Time Magazine.

Saudi Arabia has carried out nearly 600 executions since 2014, with over 200 as drug cases.

Most of the rest were for murder, but also included other crimes such as rape, incest, terrorism, and "sorcery".

Most people are executed by public beheading or firing squad.

Nigerian national executed in Saudi for drug smuggling

A Nigerian national has been executed on July 3 in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of smuggling narcotic drugs into the country.

Abu Duraimi Oyida Ajibula was executed in Madinah on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine in his intestines, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The kingdom’s interior ministry said the court convicted the smuggler and that the sentence was endorsed by the appeal and supreme courts. A royal order was also issued to execute the sentence.

The ministry reiterated that the Saudi government is “keen on combating narcotics due to their great harm to individuals and the society”, and warned violators of punishment according to Sharia law.

The kingdom’s laws on drug smuggling are among the strictest in the world and it has carried out multiple executions of those convicted of the crime.

Some of those executed for smuggling last year include five Saudi nationals, four Pakistani nationals, three Yemenis, Two Egyptians, one Syrian national and a Palestinian national.

Warning: Graphic content

Above: Public beheading in Saudi Arabia

Above: Authorities in Saudi Arabia publicly beheaded Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim in January 2015. The Burmese woman, who resided in Saudi Arabia, was executed by the sword after being dragged through the street and held down by four police officers. She was convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of her seven-year-old step-daughter. The video shows how it took three blows to complete the execution, while the woman screamed “I did not kill. I did not kill.”

Sources: The New Arab, Gulf Business, July 3-18, 2018

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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