Saudis Execute 81 for Terror-Related Crimes, Largest Mass Execution on Record

Saudi Arabia said Saturday, March 12; it executed 81 people in one day on a variety of terrorism-related offenses, exceeding the total number of executions in the kingdom in the whole of last year.

All 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, or to al-Qaeda, Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces, or “other terrorist organizations.”

They had been plotting attacks on vital economic sites, or had targeted or had killed members of the security forces, or had smuggled weapons into the country, the SPA added.

Of the 81 people, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.

“The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead,” SPA said.

Of the 81 people, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.

“The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead,” SPA said. (TOI / VFI News)