State TV: Saudi Arabia has executed 47 criminals

Announcement comes day after advocacy groups said kingdom held at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings at 20-year high

By AP 2 January 2016, 9:52 am

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US President Barack Obama with King Salman of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2015. (AFP/Yuri Gripas)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabian state television said Saturday that the kingdom has executed 47 criminals.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency and state television announced the executions, citing the Interior Ministry. The SPA published a list of 30 names and said more would follow.

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in two decades, according to several advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide.

Human rights group Amnesty International said in November that at least 63 people had been executed since the start of the year for drug-related offenses. That figure made for at least 40 percent of the total number of executions in 2015, compared to less than 4% for drug-related executions in 2010. Amnesty said Saudi Arabia had exceeded its highest level of executions since 1995, when 192 executions were recorded.

Mohammed al-Nimr, the father of Ali al-Nimr, a Saudi youth facing execution for taking part in pro-reform protests speaks to AFP in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on September 23, 2015. Mohammed appealed to Saudi King Salman to spare the life of his son, who was only 17 when he was arrested in February 2012 and whose sentence has drawn international condemnation over his young age at the time and allegations that he was tortured into making a confession. (STR/AFP) — Mohammed al-Nimr, the father of Ali al-Nimr, a Saudi youth facing execution for taking part in pro-reform protests speaks to AFP in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on September 23, 2015. (STR/AFP)

But while some crimes, such as premeditated murder, may carry fixed punishments under Saudi Arabia’s interpretation of the Islamic law, or Shariah, drug-related offenses are considered “ta’zir,” meaning neither the crime nor the punishment is defined in Islam.

Discretionary judgments for “ta’zir” crimes have led to arbitrary rulings with contentious outcomes.

In a lengthy report issued in August, Amnesty noted the case of Lafi al-Shammari, a Saudi national with no previous criminal record who was executed in mid-2015 for drug trafficking. The person arrested with him and charged with the same offenses received a 10-year prison sentence, despite having prior arrests related to drug trafficking.