Saudi Arabia beheads by sword 12 people in 10 days

Saudi Arabia beheading by sword, executes 12 people in 10 days: With this the total number of people executed this year to at least 132, exceeding those of 2020 and 2021 combined.

Saudi Arabia executed 12 people in 10 days for drug offences after a 2-year hiatus, according to a rights organisation.

The spate of executions, most of which are beheadings with a sword, suggests that the country is on track for a record year of executions despite Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman previously vowing to reduce such punishments.

The defendants were sentenced to death after being imprisoned on non-violent drug charges and included 3 Pakistanis, 4 Syrians, 2 Jordanians and 3 Saudis, Telegraph reported.

With this the total number of people executed this year to at least 132, exceeding those of 2020 and 2021 combined, AFP reported.

In 2018, Mohammed bin Salman had said that his administration had tried to “minimise” capital punishment with only those found guilty of murder or manslaughter being subject to capital punishment.

“His Majesty, the King, doesn’t wake up and just sign whatever he wants to sign. He works by the law, by the book,” he told Time Magazine.

In 2020, there were further hints of a softening on non-violent crime after Saudi Arabia proposed to change the law to end the death penalty after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Source: Hindustan Times, Staff, November 21, 2022

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