Saudi Arabia | Why Has The Death Penalty Spiralled Under King Salman?

Saudi Arabia last week carried out its 800th execution under King Salman bin Abdulaziz, rights groups announced on Tuesday, nearly double the number of executions that took place in the 5 years prior to the monarch ascending to the throne in 2015.

From 2009 to 2014, the 4 years preceding King Salman's rule, Saudi Arabia carried out a total of 423 executions, according to anti-capital punishment UK organisation Reprieve and the Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR).

ESOHR said that the 800th person to be executed since 2015 was Abd Al-Mohsen Al-Ghamidi on 8 April.

Al-Ghamidi was arrested in 2012 aged-12 on murder charges and was executed in Saudi Arabia's Al-Baha region.

ESOHR is tracking the cases of 52 individuals - including 13 children - who face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Due to Riyadh's opaqueness about the practice, the organisation believes its data is incomplete.

"In reality, the number of persons facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia may be, and in fact likely is, significantly higher than the 52 we are currently tracking," James Suzano, Director of Legal Affairs at ESOHR, said.

Although Saudi Arabia's primary focus has been containing the fatal Covid-19 outbreak, the kingdom's use of the death penalty - including defendants who were prosecuted as children - has shown no signs of abating.

Last month, Saudi authorities issued death sentences on 5 men for alleged crimes they committed as juveniles whe police cracked down on protests in a Shia-majority province. The youngest of the group was 9-years-old at the time of his arrest.

Reprieve and ESOHR found that Saudi Arabia executed a record 185 people last year, the most in a calendar year since ESOHR began keeping track of the kingdom's executions in 2003.

In April 2019, Saudi Arabia announced the mass execution of 37 citizens who had been convicted of "terrorism", with one of the bodies of the condemned crucified after death.

Reprieve and ESOHR said 6 of the 37 men killed were children at the time of their alleged offences.

The organisations' findings directly refute claims by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the throne, about his plans to reduce the number of executions in the kingdom, as part of his much-touted reforms.

"For all the rhetoric of reform and modernisation, Saudi Arabia is still a country where speaking out against the King can get you killed," said Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve in a statement.

Source: albawaba.com, Staff, April 16, 2020

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

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

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Texas: Dexter Darnell Johnson to die on August 15; Larry Ray Swearingen on August 21

Dexter Darnell Johnson's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday, August 15, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 31-year-old Dexter is convicted of the murder of 23-year-old Maria Aparece and 17-year-old Huy Ngo on June 18, 2006, in Houston, Texas. Dexter has spent the last 11 years of his life on Texas’ death row. Dexter was born and raised in Texas. He dropped out of school following the 9th grade. During the early morning hours of June 18, 2006, Dexter Johnson and 4 of his friends, Ashley Ervin, Louis Ervin, Keithron Fields, and Timothy Randle, were driving around in Ashley’s car, looking for someone to rob. The group discovered Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo siting in Maria’s vehicle on the street. Johnson took a shot gun and stood outside the driver’s side door, threatening to shoot Maria if she did not cooperate. Johnson demanded she open the door, and when she did, he threw her into the ...

Florida executes Michael King

Killer of stay-at-home mom whose death led to 911 reform is executed Michael King kidnapped Denise Amber Lee from her Florida home in broad daylight in 2008. If it weren't for a botched 911 call, Lee may have survived the ordeal. Florida has executed a death row inmate for the rape and murder of a stay-at-home mom whose death exposed the vulnerabilities of the 911 system nationwide and led to reform within the industry. Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, March 17, for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee. King abducted the married mother of 2 young sons from her home in broad daylight on Jan. 17, 2008, less than an hour before Lee's husband returned from work.

U.S. | These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development. In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person. Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

Iran hangs three men in first executions over January protests

Iran executed three men on Thursday who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, with activists warning of the risk of a new surge in hangings as war rages with Israel and the United States. They were the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities. Rights groups said the trio, who included a teenager who had taken part in international wrestling competitions, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture.

Texas executes Cedric Ricks

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution. Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

Florida | Chadwick Willacy to be executed for burning Florida neighbor alive

A man convicted of the 1990 murder of his neighbor while burglarizing her home is scheduled to be the 6th person executed in Florida this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, March 13, issued a death warrant for Chadwick Willacy, 58. Willacy was in Marlys Sather's home when she arrived home from work unexpectedly. He struck her several times, tied her up, attempted to strangle her, and then set the house on fire after removing the smoke detectors and dousing her with gasoline, prosecutors said. Willacy's record to that point included some minor offenses in New York and Florida, mostly drug-related.

Vietnam | 4 get death penalty in Ho Chi Minh City's drug trafficking ring

The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday sentenced four defendants to death for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking ring in the city. Those receiving the death penalty for "illegal trading narcotic substances" were Nguyen Binh Dai (born in 1988), Mac Vinh Khiem (1991), Thai Duy Quang (1990), and Nguyen Binh Trieu (1972), all residents of HCMC. In the same case, Tran Tong Dung, born in 1974, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for illegal drug trading and storage. Huynh My Ngoc (2002), Thach Ngoc Yen Vy (2001), and Nguyen Dai Nghia (1997) received life sentences, while Pham Thanh Phuong (1997) from An Giang Province was sentenced to 20 years in jail for illegally transporting drugs.

Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.

Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years. Lance Shockley, a man on death row in Missouri, wanted items from the crime scene to undergo DNA testing to potentially prove his innocence. The court scheduled proceedings on his request — but the date set was for two days after his execution. Patty Prewitt can’t have her DNA tested — and fully clear her name — because her sentence was commuted and she is no longer in prison. And others, including Lamar McVay, who is serving 30 years for a robbery, can’t even get an answer from the state on his DNA testing request. He's still awaiting a ruling on a motion he filed in September 2022.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog