Saudi Arabia has executed over 200 people so far in 2025, putting the Gulf State on track to once again break its own grim record for number of executions carried out in a calendar year, reports Agence France Presse (AFP).
The vast majority of these executions have been for drug related offences, and of foreign nationals.
Reprieve’s head of MENA Jeed Basyouni told AFP:
“Foreign nationals are particularly vulnerable to due process and fair trial violations in the context of the death penalty. There is no evidence to substantiate the use of the death penalty as a deterrent.”
This surge in executions undermines Saudi Arabia’s promise it is reforming, and creating a more tolerant society.
