SAUDI ARABIA: 81 PEOPLE EXECUTED IN LARGE MASS EXECUTION
SAUDI ARABIA: 81 PEOPLE EXECUTED IN LARGE MASS EXECUTION
Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from murder to belonging to militant groups on Saturday (local time), in the largest known mass execution in the kingdom in its modern history. Those executed surpassed the death toll from the mass execution in January 1980 of 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst militant attack in history to attack the kingdom and Islam’s holiest site.
It was not clear why the kingdom chose Saturday for the executions, even though it has captured much of the world’s attention that has been focused on Russia’s war on Ukraine – and since the US hopes to lower record gasoline prices as energy prices soar around the world. . . . Globe. the scientist. The number of death penalty cases being carried out in Saudi Arabia has declined during the coronavirus pandemic, even though the kingdom has continued to behead convicts during their reign.
The Saudi authorities confirmed the Saturday’s executions, noting that they included ‘those convicted of various crimes, including the killing of innocent men, women and children.’ The kingdom also said that some of those executed were members of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and supporters of the Houthis in Yemen. Those executed includes 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis and a Syrian. However, the report did not mention the place of execution. The country’s justice minister said, ‘The defendants were given the right to hire a lawyer, and Saudi law guaranteed them all their rights during the judicial process, which found them guilty of multiple heinous crimes that claimed the lives of a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers.’ The press agency said.
He did not say how the prisoners were executed, even though those sentenced to death are usually beheaded in Saudi Arabia. A statement broadcast by the official Saudi TV described those executed as “following the footsteps of Satan” in committing their crimes. The kingdom’s last mass execution came in January 2016, when the kingdom executed 47 people, including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had mobilized demonstrations in the kingdom. Since taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed under his father has increasingly liberalized life in the kingdom, opening cinemas, allowing women to drive, and discrediting the country’s religious police. However, US intelligence agencies believe that the crown prince also ordered the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while overseeing air strikes in Yemen that have killed hundreds of civilians.
