Saudi Arabia Executes 81 People In A Single Day For Terror-Related Offences: Report
Of the 81 people executed, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.
New Delhi: In the largest mass execution by Saudi Arabia in its modern history, the Gulf country executed 81 people convicted of terror-related offences on Saturday.
As per a report on news agency AFP, all the persons executed had been "found guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes", the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, saying they included convicts linked to the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda, Yemen's Huthi rebel forces or "other terrorist organisations."
#BREAKING Saudi Arabia executes 81 people in one day for terror offences: state media pic.twitter.com/FLuk8dLWB1
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 12, 2022
Of the 81 people executed, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.
The ones executed had been sentenced over plotting attacks in the kingdom -- including killing "a large number" of civilians and members of the security forces, the SPA statement read.
"They also include convictions for targeting government personnel and vital economic sites, the killing of law enforcement officers and maiming their bodies, and planting land mines to target police vehicles," the SPA said.
The convictions include crimes of kidnapping, torture, rape, smuggling arms and bombs into the kingdom, according to the local media.
The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, with trials overseen by 13 judges, held over three separate stages for each individual, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead, the Saudi Press Agency said.
"The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world," the report added.
The total number of those executed surpassed that of the January 1980 mass execution of those convicted of the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, that saw 63 people beheaded.
Saudi Arabia’s last mass execution was in January 2016 when the kingdom executed 47 people, including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied demonstrations in the kingdom.
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