Riyadh: Seven people were hanged in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Of these, five were sentenced to death after being found guilty of drug trafficking and two in other cases. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has given this information. One of those sentenced to death is also a Pakistani citizen. Apart from the Pakistani, two Saudi nationals and four Yemeni nationals have been hanged. Quoting the Saudi Interior Ministry, SPA said that Yahya Lutfullah, Ali Ajeeb, Ahmed Ali and Salem Nahari were hanged in the southern province of Asir for ‘hashish trafficking’. All four were hanged and were Yemeni citizens. On Wednesday itself, a Pakistani man found guilty of drug trafficking was also hanged.
236 people have been hanged in Saudi this year
The total number of people getting death sentence in Saudi Arabia this year i.e. in 2024 has reached 236. Of these, 71 have been hanged for drug trafficking. Saudi Arabia has become a major market for Captagon, an addictive amphetamine drug coming from war-torn Syria and Lebanon. The Saudi government has adopted a very strict stance against this.
Saudi authorities launched an anti-drug campaign last year. Under this, continuous raids were conducted and many people were arrested. Two years ago, the ban on death penalty in drug cases in Saudi was also abolished. In such a situation, death penalty is continuously being awarded in the cases of drug and drug smugglers.
Saudi among the top hanging countries
Amnesty International has said that Saudi Arabia executed the third most prisoners in the world last year, 2023, after China and Iran. Saudi Arabia has been consistently criticized by human rights groups for its use of capital punishment. Some time ago it was said from the Saudi side that death penalty is necessary to ‘maintain public order’.