Country again applied the death penalty for drug -related crimes in 2022
It performed two Saudi citizens for “terrorism” on Monday (4), raising to 17 the number of executions in three days, according to a count based on official ads. Over the weekend, the country of the Gulf executed 15 people. Only on Sunday were eight: seven foreigners (four somalis and three ethiops) for “haxixe smuggling” and a Saudi for the murder of his own mother.
Since the beginning of the year, Saudi Arabia has executed more than 230 people. Most, more than 150, due to drug -related accusations. The rhythm of executions can lead the country to overcome its record last year, with 338 death penalties.
For Jeed Basyouni, from the Supprieve Human Rights Defense Organization, “the year 2025 showed a remarkable increase in crimes -related executions involving narcotics, especially with regard to cannabis.” “This is particularly worrying in a worldwide context in which the trend is more for the decriminalization of cannabis possession and consumption,” he told AFP.
Experts link this increase to the “war against drugs” launched by Riade in 2023, especially against the growing consumption of Captagon, of which the kingdom, the largest economy in the Arab world, is one of the main markets, according to.
Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug -related crimes in 2022 after suspending the application of the death penalty for three years in cases of narcotics. In 2022, 19 people were executed, two in 2023 and 117 in 2024 for drug -related crimes.
Saudi authorities argue that the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and that it is applied after all means of appeal is exhausted. For human rights advocates, keeping the death penalty contradicts the image of modernity that the kingdom seeks to design.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
