Saudi Arabia conducts mass execution of 81 people


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Saudi Arabia's state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Saturday that the kingdom had carried out a mass execution of 81 people, The Hill reports.
According to The Hill and NPR, those executed — a group comprising 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis, and one Syrian — had been convicted of terrorism, murder, kidnapping, torture, rape, and weapons smuggling. Some were reportedly associated with al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. It was the largest known mass execution in the country's modern history.
NPR notes that while Saudi state media did not specify how the prisoners were executed, "death-row inmates" in Saudi Arabia "typically are beheaded" publicly. Reuters reports that since 2013, some Saudi executions have been carried out by firing squad.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Between 2015 and 2019, the kingdom averaged over 150 executions per year. In the same time period, the United States — which has almost ten times the population of Saudi Arabia — averaged less than 25 per year.
The kingdom carried out 27 executions in 2020, with the large drop-off due mostly to a moratorium on death sentences for drug crimes, and 67 in 2021, according to ABC News and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights. Saturday's mass execution killed more people in one day than were executed in either of the previous two years.
Axios reported last week that U.S. officials, having cut off the supply of Russian oil to the U.S., are considering a trip to Saudi Arabia to persuade its rulers to increase oil production. President Biden previously promised to turn the kingdom into a "pariah" due to its human rights violations, especially the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Former Philadelphia police officer charged with murder for Eddie Irizarry shooting
Speed Read
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
How Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's 22-year sentence compares to other Jan. 6 punishments
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Kansas police raid small-town local newspaper, setting off a press freedoms clash
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio voters defeat GOP measure to raise referendum threshold
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ohio is voting on whether to raise the bar on referendums — and a popular abortion amendment
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Oregon lifts ban on drivers pumping their own gas
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Former Manson follower Leslie Van Houten out of prison after 50 years
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Florida construction and agricultural workforces diminished after new immigration law takes effect
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published