Saudi Arabia carries out its 100th execution of the year as 4 more prisoners are beheaded

Saudi Arabia carries out its 100th execution of the year as 4 more prisoners are put to death adding to the 81 carried out on 1 day over the weekend

• 4 more prisoners have been executed in Saudi Arabia, raising further human rights abuses questions

• Riyadh authorities said the 81 executed in 1 day were said to be foreign terrorists, people convicted of murdering innocent men, women and children - or prisoners who were accused of holding 'deviant beliefs'

• These men were put to death as the result of a bloody clampdown on Shi'ite Muslims from eastern Qatif

• Relatives say bodies are not being returned to their families for fear of the funerals renewing any agitation

Saudi Arabia put 4 people to death on Thursday, bringing to 100 the number of executions since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.

The latest executions reported by the official Saudi Press Agency come amid fresh condemnation of the kingdom's human rights record after 81 people were put to death in a single day last week.

Of the 100 executions, three on Wednesday coincided with a visit by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in Riyadh to lobby for a rise in oil output to help stabilise markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's execution of 81 people in 1 day - on various charges, including terrorism-related offences - exceeded the total of 69 killed in the whole of 2021.

Human Rights Watch said it was 'highly unlikely' that the 81 men received fair trials, calling it a 'brutal show of its autocratic rule'.

More than half of them, 41, belonged to the kingdom's Shiite Muslim minority 'who have long suffered systemic discrimination and violence by the government', the New York-based rights group said.

Saudi Arabia said the men, who included 7 Yemenis and1 Syrian, belonged either to the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda, Yemen's Huthi rebels or 'other terrorist organisations'.

These are the faces of 31 out of 81 men executed by Saudi Arabia in a single day at the weekend.

Source: dailymail.co.uk, Agence France-Presse, A. Harwood, R. Robinson, March 18, 2022

Saudi Arabia | Four death-row inmates put to death

Saudi Arabia on 17 March 2022 executed 4 men - 2 Saudis, 2 Indonesians - after being found guilty of committing murder and rape, state news agency (SPA) reported.

The Indonesians men were convicted of raping a woman after tying her up while 1 of the 2 Saudis was convicted of luring a child, raping him and strangling him to death.

The other Saudi was convicted of murdering his father and brother by hitting them on the head with a sharp object then stabbing them to death.

The Criminal Court sentenced all 4 men to death, and the verdict was approved by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court, the Ministry of Interior said, adding that a royal order was issued to implement the verdicts accordingly.

Source: Press Tv & Gulf News, Staff, March 18, 2022

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