Saudi Arabia executes two military personnel for treason

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry has executed two military personnel who were accused of committing military treason, among other offences, the state news agency (SPA) said on Thursday.

They were referred to the designated court and “were provided with all the judicial guarantees. They confessed to what was attributed to them, two rulings were issued against them proving that they were guilty of what they were accused of, and they were sentenced to death”, SPA said.

No further details were shared by Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has already executed 100 people this year, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director had said last week.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 196 people – the highest annual number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the country in the last 30 years. The number of executions in 2022 is three times higher than the number of executions carried out in 2021, and at least seven times higher than the figure for 2020.

In November 2022, Saudi authorities resumed executions for drug-related offences, ending a moratorium on such executions which the Saudi Human Rights Commission said had been in place since January 2020.