Death penalty: seven executed in one day in Saudi Arabia: 4 were Yemenis and sold hashish

ROMA – Seven people were executed in Saudi Arabia, including five for drug trafficking. The news was announced by the official news agency Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and relaunched on the website Hands off Cain. These seven executions bring the total number of people sent to their deaths this year in the Kingdom to 236, according to an Agence France Press tally based on official press releases. The names: Yahya Lutfullah, Ali Azib, Ahmed Ali and Salem Nahari. They were executed in the southern province of Asir for “smuggling hashish” into the country, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency.

The methods of execution. There are three methods of execution: crucifixion, stoning and decapitation: the latter is the most widely applied system even if crucifixion and stoning are sometimes used. Women can choose to be killed with a gunshot to the back of the head so as not to be forced to reveal their heads.

A country at the center of the market for a highly addictive amphetamine: captagon. The ministry identified all four as Yemeni citizens. Also on the same day, the same source reported the execution of a Pakistani citizen for drug trafficking, bringing the number of people executed this year in the Kingdom for this type of crime to 71. Saudi Arabia has emerged as a major market for captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine trafficked from Syria and Lebanon.

The Saudis are in third place in the ranking of executioners, after China and Iran. Saudi authorities launched a high-profile anti-drug campaign last year, which led to numerous operations and arrests. Executions for drug trafficking have increased since the moratorium on the death penalty for these crimes was lifted two years ago . Also on the same day, two Saudi citizens were executed for murder, the Ministry announced. In 2023, Saudi Arabia ranked third globally in terms of the number of executions, after China and Iran, second Amnesty Internationalwhich began recording annual data in 1990.