Saudi Arabia executes 7 people for ‘terrorism’, state media says

Saudi Arabia executed seven people on Tuesday for “terrorism” crimes, state media said, the highest single-day figure since 81 people were executed in March 2022.

The seven people were found guilty of “creating and financing terrorist organizations and entities,” the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the Gulf kingdom’s interior ministry.

Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s top users of the death penalty, has executed 29 people this year after executing 170 people in 2023, according to official statistics from AFP.

The kingdom, notorious for its beheadings, executed 81 people in one day nearly two years ago, drawing condemnation from around the world.

The nationalities of the seven executed on Tuesday were not disclosed, but their names and titles suggested they were Saudi.

The official news agency said they were convicted of “adopting bloody terrorist methods, establishing and financing terrorist organizations and entities, and communicating and interacting with them with the purpose of undermining social security and stability” and endangering national security. .

The report did not provide further details of the charges against them.

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia executed more people in 2022 than any other country except China and Iran.

Those executed last year included 33 people accused of terrorism-related crimes and two soldiers convicted of treason.

With 38 people executed in December, it was the deadliest month of 2023.

Saudi authorities argued that the executions were necessary “to maintain public order” and consistent with their interpretation of Sharia law, the Islamic code based on the teachings of the Koran.

Activists say Saudi Arabia’s continued support for the death penalty undermines de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to transform the world’s largest crude exporter into a business and tourism hub.

Activists believe the execution undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society at the heart of Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 reform agenda.