Saudi 49th Execution in First Week of 2016

Local Editor

Saudi interior ministry announced that the kingdom executed a citizen on Wednesday, raising to 49 the number of death sentences carried out in the first week of 2016.

The ministry claimed in a statement published on the official SPA news agency that Saud bin Mohammed al-Shalwi was convicted of shooting dead Mohammed bin Safar al-Harithi following a dispute.

The statement further added that the execution was conducted in the western city of Taif.

It was earlier on Saturday that the kingdom executed 47 men allegedly convicted of "terrorism," including Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, whose death prompted outrage in the Muslim world as well as diplomatic row with Iran.

On Sunday, the kingdom cut ties with Iran after protesters against al-Nimr's execution torched the Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic.

Back in 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people convicted of various crimes, including drug trafficking, up from 87 in 2014.

In the context, Amnesty International rights group considered the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades.

Under Saudi strict claimed Islamic legal code, murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

Relatively, most executions in the kingdom are carried out by beheading with a sword.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team