Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, highest number in decades

Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 330 people this year, in what rights groups are calling the highest number in decades.

According to the Reuters news agency, the latest number of executions carried out by Saudi authorities – based on announcements compiled by the human rights group Reprieve – has reached up to 330 people, in a significant increase from the 172 executed last year and the 196 executed in 2022.

This year’s toll reportedly includes over 100 foreign nationals from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and reveale that more than 150 people were notably executed for non-lethal crimes, primarily related to alleged drug smuggling activities and accusations of non-lethal terrorism.

Rights groups insist that executions for such non-lethal crimes directly violate international law, and also stress that the accusations of those activities are often levied against people by authorities in an effort to justify their executions and increase repression, particularly against those who speak out against the government.

The news agency cited a relative of one foreign national arrested on drug charges, who said he was arrested while fishing near the coast and has had no lawyer or representative in the kingdom. A family member of another defendant also reported that they had not received any evidence proving the allegations against him, despite his criminal court sessions stretching for over three years.

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