37 Saudis executed for terrorism
37 Saudis were executed today in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of “terrorism,” the Saudi Interior Ministry announced.
The executions of the 37 Saudis took place in five regions: the capital Riyadh, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the central Sunni region of al-Qassim, and the Oriental province where there is a concentration of a Shiite minority, the ministry says.
They were all found guilty of “adopting extremist ideology” and “forming terror cells,” the ministry said in a statement from the official SPA news agency.
Crucifixion
Executions in Saudi Arabia generally take place through beheading and one of the convicts was crucified, a treatment reserved for perpetrators of particularly serious crimes.
37 Saudis executed were not the first, the previous mass execution in Saudi Arabia dates from January 2016, when 47 people, including Shiite cleric Nimr Baqer al-Nimr, were killed on the same day for terrorist activities. This led to tensions and the suspension of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran.
