Saudi Arabia executes five, including 1 Egyptian over terrorism

Saudi Arabia executed five men, four Saudis and an Egyptian, accused of attacking a place of worship, authorities said.

This brings to 68 the number of executions since the beginning of the year in the kingdom, one of the countries which apply the most death penalty in the world, according to an AFP count.

The five people were sentenced for carrying out an attack that left five dead and several injured in the east of the kingdom, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, without specifying the date or the precise location. They were also found guilty of belonging to a “terrorist group”.

Since the beginning of May, more than twenty people have been executed for terrorism, most of them in the east of the country, a region with a Shiite majority, according to the reports.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people, 81 of them on the same day, sparking international outcry.

More than 1,000 killings have taken place since King Salman came to power in 2015 and the ascension of his son Mohammed as de facto ruler of the kingdom, according to a report by the British Organization Reprieve and the Euro Organization.

Saudi Commission for Human Rights, published at the beginning of the year.

Africanews/Hauwa M.