Status: 12.03.2022 5:09 p.m
According to state media reports, 81 people were executed in one day in Saudi Arabia on terrorism charges. Observers speak of the largest mass execution in the kingdom’s recent history.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia says it executed 81 people in one day. The Saudi interior ministry said the suspects had been convicted of different crimes, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.
These included the murder of “innocent men, women and children” and membership in terrorist organizations such as “Islamic State” (IS), al-Qaeda or the Houthis. Accordingly, they had planned attacks on important places and smuggled weapons into the country.
The executions were carried out on Saturday after the death sentences were confirmed by royal decrees. Most of those executed were Saudis.
Amnesty International: Executions in Saudi Arabia up again
Human rights activists have repeatedly complained about the high number of executions in conservative Islamic Saudi Arabia. Last year, human rights organization Amnesty International said executions had picked up again after a decline during the country’s G20 presidency. Between January and July 2021, 40 executions were carried out – after 27 the year before.
Allegation: confessions through torture
In 2019, Saudi Arabia sparked international outrage by executing 37 people in a single day. The kingdom was accused at the time that the men had not received fair trials and that confessions were allegedly extracted through torture.
Under the leadership of the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is cracking down on government critics with a heavy hand. Many activists are still in prison.
Blogger Badawi released
Earlier this week, the kingdom released blogger Raif Badawi after ten years in prison. However, according to his wife Ensaf Haidar, he will not be allowed to leave the country for ten years.
Badawi was one of the best-known political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. In 2014, the Saudi judiciary sentenced him to ten years in prison and 1,000 strokes of the cane. The accusation: With his blog entries he is said to have insulted Islam by suggesting the separation of state and religion.