Saudi Arabia has executed 17 people in three days

Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 239 people.Keystone

Seventeen people, mostly foreign, were executed in three days in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom had not killed as many condemned in such a short period of time since March 2022.

Saudi Arabia executed two Saudi nationals for “terrorism” on Monday, the day after the execution of seven foreigners for drug trafficking. This brings to 17 the number of executions in three days, according to an AFP count based on official announcements.

Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 239 people, including 161 for narcotics linked to narcotics, according to AFP’s count. In 2024, the kingdom had carried out 338 executions, a record that may still be exceeded this year.

On Monday, two Saudis was executed in Mecca for “terrorism”. On Saturday and Sunday, 15 people were executed, including 13 for introducing smuggling haschich and one for cocaine traffic. All, except one, were foreigners.

The kingdom had not executed as many people in such a short period of time since March 2022, when it had sparked strong international convictions by carrying out the massive execution of 81 people in one day for accusations related to terrorism. Among the 136 foreigners executed in 2025, 125 were for drug trafficking.

“War on drugs”

For Jeed BASYOUNI, of the Right’s Rights Defense Organization, based in London, “the year 2025 has seen a marked increase in executions linked to drug offenses, in particular concerning cannabis”.

Experts contacted by AFP connect this increase to the “war against drugs” launched by Ryad in 2023, especially against the growing consumption of Captagon, of which the kingdom, the first economy of the Arab world, is one of the main markets, according to the UN.

Saudi Arabia resumed executions in drug affairs in late 2022, after a moratorium of about three years, running 19 people in 2022, two in 2023 and 117 in 2024, according to an AFP count.

Ryad claims to pronounce death penalties only after the exhaustion of all appeals and explains that these measures aim to guarantee security and protect the kingdom from drugs. For human rights defenders, the maintenance of capital punishment contradicts the image of modernity that the kingdom seeks to convey. (ATS)

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