Saudi Arabia executes 81 people in one day

death penalty

In 2019, the kingdom executed 37 people in one day.

(Photo: dpa)

riad The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia says it executed 81 people in a single 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 the Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda.

The executions were carried out on Saturday after the death sentences were confirmed by royal decrees. Most of those executed were Saudis.

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.

Blogger Raif Badawi released after 10 years

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. According to Amnesty, the majority of those executed belonged to the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia.

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In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed 47 people in one day on terrorism charges, including prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Al-Nimr was jailed for criticizing the oppression of the Shia minority in Sunni Saudi Arabia.

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.

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.

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