More than 100 foreigners sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, most from Pakistan, know the number of Indians
Saudi Arabia has sentenced more than 100 foreigners to death this year. This is being seen as an unprecedented increase in the number of death sentences given in Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, a Yemeni citizen was sentenced to death in the southwestern region of Najran, who was convicted of smuggling drugs into the country, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. According to data collected from state media reports, the number of foreigners executed so far in 2024 has risen to 101. According to AFP report, this is almost triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, when Saudi authorities sentenced 34 foreigners to death each year.
Saudi Arabia breaks records
The Berlin-based European-Saudi Human Rights Organization (ESOHR) said that this year’s sentences have already broken records. “This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in a year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year,” said Taha al-Hajji, the group’s legal director. Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive and out of sync with efforts to soften its image and welcome international tourists and investors.
Among top 3 countries carrying out death sentences
According to Amnesty International, oil-rich Saudi Arabia is set to execute the third-highest number of prisoners in the world in 2023, after China and Iran. In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out the highest number of executions in more than three decades. The figure surpassed its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995. Executions have continued apace since then. According to the report, a total of 274 people were hanged this year till Sunday.
How many citizens of which countries were hanged
The foreigners who were hanged this year include 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia. Three people each were hanged from Sudan, India and Afghanistan and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines. Saudi Arabia ended a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders in 2022, and the number of executions for drug-related crimes has increased this year.
