Saudi Arabia executes seven people for terrorism
Saudi Arabia executed seven people for "terrorism" offences on Tuesday, state media said, the highest single-day figure since 81 were put to death in March 2022. The seven were convicted of "creating and financing terrorist organisations and entities", the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the Gulf kingdom's interior ministry. Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most prolific users of capital punishment, has now executed 29 people this year according to an AFP tally of official announcements, after putting 170 to death in 2023. The kingdom, notorious for beheadings, drew a wave of condemnation from around the world with 81 executions in one day nearly two years ago. The nationalities of the seven executed on Tuesday were not revealed, but their names and titles indicated they were Saudi. They were convicted of "adopting a terrorist approach that calls for bloodshed, establishing and financing terrorist organisations and entities, and communicating and dealing with them with the aim of disrupting the security and stability of society" and endangering national security, the official news agency said. The report did not provide further details of the accusations against them. The vice president of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, Adel al-Saeed, condemned what he called "the vague and loose charges" behind the executions. The statement by the authorities did not name the "terrorist organisation" the executed were accused of being members of, "what exactly the crimes it committed" were or "the role of the victims in these crimes", Saeed told AFP. In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed more people than any other country besides China and Iran, Amnesty International said. Those executed last year included 33 people accused of terrorism-related crimes and two soldiers convicted of treason. There were 38 executions in December, the deadliest month in 2023. Saudi authorities deem the executions to be necessary to "maintain public order" and compatible with their interpretation of sharia law, the Islamic legal code based on the teachings of the Koran. Activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment hurts efforts by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform the world's biggest crude oil exporter into a business and tourism hub. Executions undermine the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform agenda, activists argue. (AFP)