Saudi Arabia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 9
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 41
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Executions are carried out in public with a sword
- News items in the archive
- 1,878
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Saudi Arabia is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 9 executions in the country, against 41 the year before. The archive holds 1,878 news items on Saudi Arabia, from 1999 to today.
In Saudi Arabia the death penalty applies to murder, drug offences, terrorism and certain offences under sharia law. The usual method is beheading, in some cases carried out in public. Executions are often announced in groups by the official press agency and a significant share of them involve foreign nationals.
The system of diya, the compensation a victim's family may accept in place of an execution, leaves some sentences reversible until the last moment. The archive gathers official announcements, individual cases and the campaigns to stop them.
Latest news
JUNE 11, 2013SyriaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SYRIAN BEHEADED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Syrian man convicted of trying to smuggle narcotics into the kingdom, the interior ministry said. Hussam Al Rjoob had attempted to “smuggle a large amount of narcotic tablets,” the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state
JUNE 7, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: NOT ENOUGH EXECUTIONERS
Saudi Arabia is actively soliciting applicants who can be trained to behead people sentenced
JUNE 5, 2013PakistanDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: PAKISTANI EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Saudi authorities beheaded by the sword a Pakistani convicted of smuggling heroin, the interior ministry said.
- JUNE 4, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: CITIZEN BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia beheaded a man after a court convicted him of murder, the interior ministry said.
JUNE 4, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SAUDI WHO KILLED WITH CAR EXECUTED BY SWORD
Saudi Arabia beheaded by sword one of its citizens after a court convicted him of murder, the interior ministry said. Shuwail al-Amri was found guilty of killing Mohammed al-Amri, an apparent relative, by deliberately running him over with a car after a
MAY 29, 2013PhilippinesDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: FILIPINO HELD DEATH ROW RELEASED
Rogelio ‘Dondon’ Lanuza, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who killed a Saudi national, is expected
- MAY 21, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTES 5 YEMENIS, DISPLAYS BODIES
Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis and displayed their bodies in public for killing a national and forming a gang that committed robberies across several towns in the kingdom, the interior ministry said.
- MAY 21, 2013YemenDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis and displayed their bodies in public for killing a national
Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis and displayed their bodies in public for killing a national
- MAY 20, 2013SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi authorities beheaded a Syrian man today after convicting him of drug trafficking, the
Saudi authorities beheaded a Syrian man today after convicting him of drug trafficking, the
- MAY 19, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: MAN SPARED PARALYSIS SENTENCE
A Saudi man escaped a sentence of paralysis for stabbing and paralysing another man by offering him
- MAY 14, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI FAMILY URGES ROYAL APPROVAL OF MAID’S EXECUTION FOR MURDER
The family of an ageing Saudi man murdered by an Indonesian housemaid at his home urged
- MAY 14, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTIONS TOLL HITS 40
A Saudi convicted of murder was beheaded today, the interior ministry announced, raising to 40 the number of people executed in the kingdom this year.
- MAY 12, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI EXECUTES LATEST, BRINGING TOTAL TO 39 THIS YEAR
Saudi Arabia has beheaded a man after he was convicted of killing a relative in the kingdom’s
- MAY 8, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: MAN BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani man found guilty of smuggling drugs into the kingdom
- MAY 7, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: NATIONAL BEHEADED FOR KILLING WOMAN AFTER RAPE BID
Saudi authorities beheaded by the sword a national convicted of murdering a woman after he
MAY 6, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA EXECUTES SYRIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER
Saudi authorities beheaded a Syrian man after he was convicted of drug trafficking, the interior
APRIL 30, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SERIAL RAPIST SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Saudi court sentenced a local man to death after he was convicted of raping and torturing
- APRIL 22, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi authorities beheaded Mohammad ben Ali al-Alawi,
Saudi authorities beheaded Mohammad ben Ali al-Alawi,
- APRIL 14, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
a Filipino driver sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
a Filipino driver sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
- APRIL 14, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI EXECUTED FOR MACHINEGUN MURDER
Saudi authorities beheaded a citizen in the western city of Medina after he was convicted of
- APRIL 12, 2013PakistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: PAKISTANI EXECUTED FOR RAPE, MURDER
Saudi authorities executed a Pakistani man convicted of rape and murder, in the northwestern
- APRIL 10, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its citizens in the eastern province of Qatif
Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its citizens in the eastern province of Qatif
- APRIL 9, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi authorities beheaded a citizen in the northern town of Hael
Saudi authorities beheaded a citizen in the northern town of Hael
APRIL 6, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER BEHEADED BY SWORD
A Saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword in the capital, the interior ministry
- APRIL 1, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: NATIONAL BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its nationals convicted of murdering a fellow Saudi in the southern
APRIL 1, 2013PakistanDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: THREE HANGED IN THE FIRST EXECUTIONS SINCE 2007
Kuwait hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions in the Gulf state since May 2007, the ministry of justice said.
- MARCH 28, 2013YemenDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: BEHEADED AND CRUCIFIED FOR MURDER, SODOMY
Mohammed Rashad Khairi Hussain, a Yemeni national, was beheaded and crucified for having
- MARCH 25, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ABORTING 40 WOMEN
A Saudi court sentenced a man to death after he was convicted of aborting more than 40 pregnant women
- MARCH 17, 2013IndonesiaDEATH BY PUNISHMENT
a Saudi court sentenced an Indonesian housemaid to death...
a Saudi court sentenced an Indonesian housemaid to death...
- MARCH 13, 2013Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Saudi firing squad executed in public seven men convicted of armed robbery despite last
A Saudi firing squad executed in public seven men convicted of armed robbery despite last