Saudi Arabia executes eight in single day, including seven foreign nationals, amid surge in death penalties
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that four Somalis and three Ethiopians were executed on Saturday in the southern region of Najran 'for smuggling hashish into the kingdom'.
One Saudi man was executed for the murder of his mother, SPA said.
Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 230 people, according to an AFP tally of official reports.
Most of those executions — 154 people — were on drug-related charges.
The pace of executions puts the kingdom on track to surpass last year's record of 338 instances of capital punishment.
Analysts link the spike to the kingdom's 'war on drugs' launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested only now being executed following their legal proceedings and convictions.
Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the use of the death penalty in narcotics cases for around three years.
It executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, according to the AFP tally.
Activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform agenda.
Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted. — AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Tycoon who brought F1 to Singapore pleads guilty in graft case
SINGAPORE: A Malaysian hotel tycoon who helped bring Formula One to Singapore pleaded guilty Monday to abetting the obstruction of justice, in a rare corruption case in the city-state that saw a former transport minister jailed last year. Singapore-based billionaire Ong Beng Seng, 79, was charged in October last year with helping former transport minister S. Iswaran cover up evidence in a graft investigation. He was also accused of showering Iswaran with lavish gifts, including tickets to the 2017 Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, flights on a private jet, business class travel and a luxury hotel stay. Ong entered his guilty plea from a glass-encased dock at a district court in downtown Singapore on Monday. Prosecutors sought a two-month jail term after Ong agreed to plead guilty. He will be sentenced on August 15. But prosecutors also agreed with defence lawyers that the court could exercise 'judicial mercy' in view of Ong's poor health -- which could further reduce any sentence. Defence lawyers pleaded for clemency, saying their septuagenarian client suffered from a litany of serious ailments, including an incurable form of cancer. They asked for a 'stiff fine' instead of actual jail time. 'The risks to Mr. Ong's life increase dramatically in prison,' lawyer Cavinder Bull told the court, saying prison could not give his client sufficient care. 'This man is living on the edge,' Bull added. The Attorney General's Chambers said in a statement that after 'considering the medical evidence before the Court', the prosecutors did not object to imposing a fine instead of jail time. The trial of Malaysia-born Ong had attracted significant media attention due to his links with Iswaran and the affluent city-state's reputation as one of the world's least corrupt nations. Ong owns Singapore-based Hotel Properties Limited and is the rights holder to the Singapore Grand Prix Formula One race. He and Iswaran were instrumental in bringing the Formula One night race on a street circuit to Singapore in 2008. In July 2023, Ong was arrested as part of a graft probe involving Iswaran and was subsequently released on bail. In October last year, Iswaran was jailed for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to accepting illegal gifts worth more than Sg$400,000 ($310,000). He was also found guilty of obstructing justice, in the city-state's first political graft trial in nearly half a century. Iswaran completed his sentence on June 6. - AFP
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Tycoon pleads guilty in graft case
Facing the law: Ong leaving the State Court in Singapore after he pleaded guilty to a charge linked to the city-state's former transport minister, who was jailed for corruption. — AFP Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty to one charge of abetting the obstruction of justice in part of a landmark case that led to the jailing of former transport minister S. Iswaran for obtaining valuable items as a public servant last year. However, both the prosecution and defence agreed to grant Ong judicial mercy given his chronic illness, and argued for him to be fined in lieu of imprisonment. He will be sentenced on Aug 15. A second charge of abetting an offence was also taken into consideration. Judicial mercy gives courts the authority to give a more lenient sentence in exceptional mitigating circumstances, such as a terminal illness or when imprisonment could pose a high risk of endangering a life. The defence submitted that Ong suffers from multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer that affects his blood plasma cells and renders him immuno-compromised. The case has been the subject of major intrigue in Singapore, a wealthy financial hub that offers ministers salaries of more than S$1mil (RM3.3mil) to deter graft and prides itself on its reputation for clean governance. Ong had informed Iswaran that his associates had been questioned and a private flight manifest with Iswaran's name on it for a flight from Singapore to Doha had been seized by the corruption watchdog during investigations. This led Iswaran to ask Ong to issue an invoice through Singapore GP, promoter of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, to bill him for the trip, which prosecutors say Iswaran knew would make it less likely that he would be investigated. Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months in prison in October 2024, the first time a former Cabinet member had ever been jailed in Singapore, on charges of obstructing justice and receiving more than S$300,000 worth of gifts. In February, Iswaran was put under house arrest for the remainder of his sentence. Ong gave Iswaran tickets to English Premier League soccer matches, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, London musicals and a ride on a private jet among other favours. Iswaran was an adviser to the Singapore Grand Prix's steering committee while Ong, 79, owns the rights to the race. The billionaire stepped down as managing director of Singapore-listed Hotel Properties in April. — Reuters
Free Malaysia Today
13 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Executions in Saudi Arabia hit 17 in 3 days
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty. (EPA Images pic) DUBAI : Saudi authorities put two people to death today to reach 17 in three days, state media said, as the conservative kingdom accelerated towards a record number of executions this year. Two Saudis were executed for 'terrorist crimes', the official Saudi Press Agency said, after 15 people, mostly foreigners, were put to death for drug offences on Saturday and yesterday. It is the quickest pace of capital punishment since March 2022, when 81 people were executed in a single day for terrorism-related offences, sparking widespread condemnation. Thirteen of those put to death on Saturday and yesterday were convicted of smuggling hashish, and another for smuggling cocaine. Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty, has carried out 239 executions so far this year. The conservative country is on course to outstrip last year's 338 – the highest since public records first documented the cases in the early 1990s. This year's executions include 161 for drug offences and 136 foreigners, according to an AFP tally of official data. Jeed Basyouni of the Reprieve rights group last week signalled a 'significant rise in executions for hashish-related drug offences, with foreign nationals making up most of these executions'. 'This is particularly concerning given the global trend toward decriminalising the possession and use of hashish,' she told AFP. Analysts link the spike to the kingdom's 'war on drugs' launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested now being executed following legal proceedings. Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the practice for around three years. It says it only carries out death sentences after defendants have exhausted all avenues of appeal, and that executions are aimed at ensuring security and deterring drugs. Activists say the continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more welcoming society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Vision's 2030 reform agenda.
