Saudi Arabia
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- absolute monarchy
- CONSTITUTION
- Sharia applies; a fundamental law establishing the rights and responsibilities of the government was introduced in 1992
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on Sharia law but some secular norms have been introduced
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- Advisory Council, appointed by the king for 4 years
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Council of Justice
RELIGIONS
100% Muslims
From the country
DECEMBER 16, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: RECORD 340 DEATH SENTENCES EXECUTED IN 2025
Saudi Arabia set a new record in 2025 for the number of death sentences executed in a single year. According to an AFP count, 340 people were executed in the kingdom this year.
NOVEMBER 9, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: 2 CITIZENS EXECUTED FOR PLOTTING ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP
Two Saudi citizens were executed for planning to carry out attacks on places of worship, the Kingdom's Ministry of Interior said on November 9, 2025.
OCTOBER 21, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI’S 48 HOUR EXECUTION SPREE KILLS CHILD AND DRUG DEFENDANTS
Saudi Arabia executed on October 20 and 21, 2025 a prisoner who participated in protests as a minor and two men convicted of drug-related crimes.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: MAN EXECUTED FOR ‘JOINING A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION’
Saudi authorities on September 9, 2025 executed Sultan bin Amer bin Abdullah Al-Shehri, bringing the total number of executions in 2025 close to 300.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: WOMAN EXECUTED IN MECCA FOR KILLING HUSBAND WITH ACID
Saudi authorities said on September 7, 2025 they had carried out the execution of a Saudi woman in the western region of Mecca after she was convicted of murdering her husband by pouring acid on him as he slept.
AUGUST 25, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: MAN EXECUTED OVER PROTESTS HE ATTENDED AS A 16-YEAR-OLD
Saudi Arabia executed Jalal Labbad on 21 August 2025 for crimes allegedly committed when he was under 18 years of age [a child].
- AUGUST 19, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: 17 PEOPLE EXECUTED IN THREE DAYS
Saudi authorities put two people to death on August 4, 2025 to reach 17 in three days, state media said, as the conservative kingdom accelerated towards a record number of executions this year.
JULY 24, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYKENYAN MAN ON DEATH ROW IN SAUDI ARABIA FREED
A Kenyan man on death row in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade has been released after a lengthy campaign to save him from execution, a Kenyan foreign affairs ministry official has said.
- JULY 15, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: CITIZEN EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry announced on July 13, 2025 the execution of a Saudi citizen in Mecca Province after his conviction for a second offense of drug trafficking.
- JULY 10, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA HAS NOW EXECUTED MORE THAN 100 FOREIGNERS THIS YEAR
Saudi Arabia put two Ethiopians to death on July 10, 2025, pushing this year’s number of foreigners executed past 100 – a spike in capital punishment that human rights groups have strongly condemned.
- JUNE 24, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: 37 ETHIOPIANS AMONG SCORES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS AT ‘IMMINENT RISK’ OF EXECUTION
At least 37 Ethiopian men are facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia for drug-related offences, according to
JUNE 16, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: JOURNALIST EXECUTED AFTER SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON
A prominent Saudi journalist who was arrested in 2018 and convicted on terrorism and treason charges has been executed, the kingdom said. Activist groups maintain that the charges against him were trumped up.