Saudi Arabia’s biggest group execution this year: 5 put to death for ‘terrorism’

Saudi Arabia put five people, convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on a house of worship, to death, state media said, marking the biggest group execution this year.

The five men included four Saudis and one Egyptian national. They were tried for an attack that killed five people and injured an untold number of others. The interior ministry statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency did not specify when the attack took place or what type of house of worship was targeted.

The method of execution used was also not detailed but Saudi Arabia has carried out beheadings in the past. With this, the total number of people put to death so far by Saudi Arabia reached 68 this year. More than 20 executions have been carried out since early May for terrorism-related offences, reports claimed.

In late May, authorities put to death two Bahrainis convicted of terrorism. Amnesty International had then said that the case hinged on “torture-tainted confessions”.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people in total – over double the 2021 figure of 69, news agency AFP reported. The 2022 figure included 81 people executed on a single day in March for terrorism-related offences.

The recent surge in executions in Saudi Arabia comes as the kingdom has been trying to soften its image through sweeping social and economic changes brought by King Salman’s son and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The kingdom had “got rid of” the death penalty except for cases of murder or when someone “threatens the lives of many people”, the Crown Prince had earlier said.