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SAUDI-EXECUTIONS
Saudi Arabia executes 37 citizens for ‘terrorism’
RIYADH, April 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia said it executed 37 of
its citizens on Tuesday after they were convicted of “terrorism” in the
kingdom, which is one of the world’s top executioners.
The sentences were carried out in Riyadh, the Muslim holy cities of Mecca
and Medina, central Qassim province and Eastern Province, home to the
country’s Shiite minority.
The men were executed “for adopting terrorist and extremist thinking and
for forming terrorist cells to corrupt and destabilise security”, a statement
published by the official Saudi Press Agency said.
It said that one person was crucified after his execution, a punishment
reserved for particularly serious crimes.
Executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom are usually carried out by
beheading.
At least 100 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning
of the year, according to a count based on official data released by SPA.
Last year, the oil-rich Gulf state carried out the death sentences of 149
people, according to Amnesty International, which said only Iran was known to
have executed more people.
Rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of
trials in Saudi Arabia, governed under a strict form of Islamic law.
People convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug
trafficking face the death penalty, which the government says is a deterrent
for further crime.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1955HRS