International
10 days, 12 beheadings, one sword: Saudi 2022 executions break their own record
The Saudi Arabia government executed 12 people in the span of just 10 days for drug and substance-related offences. Notably, most of these executions were carried out with a sword, a human rights organisation recently said in its report. The series of executions, most of which are beheadings, follows the record 81 executions by the monarchy in March this year.
The beheadings came despite Saudi Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s vow to reduce harsh punishments and curtail death sentences, especially for non-violent crimes.
In 2018, Crown Prince bin Salman said his administration was looking to “minimise” capital punishment and only execute people found guilty of murder or manslaughter.
