Saudi Executes 57th Convict For Fatal Shooting

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed one of its citizens for the fatal shooting of another Saudi, bringing to 57 the number of convicts put to death this year.

Mosaid al-Shahrani had been tried and found guilty of killing Hamad al-Shahrani with an automatic weapon after an argument, an interior ministry statement said.

It did not give further details of the connection between them but said the accused was put to death in the southwestern city of Abha.

Most executions in Saudi Arabia are done by beheading with a sword.

The kingdom on January 2 executed 47 people in a single day for “terrorism”.

According to an AFP tally, Shahrani is among 10 other locals and foreigners put to death this year.

In 2015 the kingdom executed 153 people, mostly for drug trafficking or murder, according to an AFP tally.

Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades.

However, the tally was far behind that for China and Iran.

The kingdom practises a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.