Saudi Arabia executes dozens on 'terrorism' charges

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it executed 37 citizens found guilty of terrorism in the gulf kingdom, one of whom was crucified, a punishment the world’s leading executioners reserves for particularly serious crimes. 

The sentences were carried out in the capital Riyadh, the Muslim holy cities Mecca and Medina, central Qassim province and Eastern Province, which is home to the country's Shiite minority.

The convicted men were executed for "for adopting terrorist and extremist thinking and for forming terrorist cells to corrupt and destabilize security", according to a statement from the Saudi Interior Ministry published by the official Saudi Press Agency. 

The Interior Ministry also said that one individual was crucified after his execution, a punishment the government says is sanctioned by Islamic law, but is typically reserved for particularly serious crimes.

The kingdom did not provide additional details as to how the executions were carried out, but the ultra-conservative gulf state usually carries out death penalties through public beheading by sword.  

The statement affirmed that the executions are part of the government’s conviction that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to those wishing to harm the kingdom. 

“The Ministry of the Interior declares this to affirm that this country will not hesitate to deter anyone who wishes to harm its security and stability, its citizens and residents on its territory."   

"At the same time, anyone wishing to commit such criminal terrorist acts will receive legitimate punishment," the ministry vowed. 

Amnesty International reports that over 100 people were executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of this year, citing official figures released by state media. 

Human Rights groups frequently condemn the Saudi government for executions, and Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia is the third most prolific executioner after Iran and Pakistan.

China is widely believed to be the top executioner in the world, though the government's policy of secrecy makes official figures hard to place. Rights groups estimate the number of yearly executions to be in the thousands. 

'Inciting sectarian strife'

The Saudi ministry also said that some of those executed on Tuesday were accused of "inciting sectarian strife."

Saudi Arabia often levies such accusations on Shiite activists, and in 2016 enraged Iran by executing a prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr among 47 others convicted of "terrorism." 

In a statement Amnesty International told AFP that those executed on Tuesday were "convicted after sham trials that violated international fair trial standards (and) which relied on confessions extracted through torture".

The executions were "yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush dissent" from within the country's Shiite minority," according to Lynn Maalouf, Middle East research director at Amnesty.

Amnesty claimed that 11 of the executed were convicted of spying for Iran and at least 14 others were sentenced in connection with anti-government protests in 2011-2012 in the Eastern Province, home to many Shiite minority.