Riyadh: The authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have executed at least 170 people during the year 2023.
The latest executions occurred on Sunday, December 31, including two in Tabuk, one in Riyadh, and one in Jizan. The largest number of executions in one month was recorded in December, with 38 individuals executed, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing statements from the interior ministry.
In 2023, 33 individuals were executed for terrorism-related crimes and two soldiers were convicted of treason.
In August alone, Saudi Arabia executed an average of four people per week, including one Pakistani man who was executed for drug smuggling.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia ranked third in the world for the number of executions carried out.
The number of recorded executions tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 in the Kingdom, according to Amnesty International. On a single day in March 2022, authorities carried out the mass execution of 81 people.
In Saudi Arabia, the increase in the number of executions was mainly for terrorism-related offenses and the resumption of executions for drug offences.
Saudi Arabia has carried out more than a thousand executions since King Salman bin Abdulaziz came to power in 2015, according to a joint report by Reprieve, an anti-death penalty non-governmental organization based in Britain, and the European-Saudi in 2023.
Saudi authorities defend the death penalty despite international condemnation, claiming it is necessary for public order and justified under Sharia law.
