Saudi Arabia executes royal family member for murder

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed a member of the royal family for murder, in a rare case involving one of the thousands of members of the House of Saud.

Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital Riyadh for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Kabir was the 134th local or foreigner put to death this year.  The Arab News reported in November 2014 that a court in Riyadh sentenced an unnamed prince to death for killing his friend.

He lost his life and another person was injured in an exchange of gunfire following a dispute at a camp on the edge of Riyadh in December 2012, the newspaper said.

Desert camps are popular gathering places for Saudis. When he realised that his victim was a friend and colleague, he informed the police, the Arab News said.

The sentence reflected the kingdom’s “fair justice system,” Arab News quoted the victim’s uncle Abdul Rahman al-Falaj as saying. Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword.

Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for “terrorism” on a single day in January.