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
- DECEMBER 3, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI URGED NOT TO EXECUTE MAN OVER 1981 MURDER
Saudi and international rights groups asked Saudi Arabia's authorities to prevent the execution of a man tried twice for the same crime committed 27 years ago
- NOVEMBER 28, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI, STATELESS ARAB BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Saudi Arabian man and a stateless Arab convicted of drug trafficking were
- NOVEMBER 26, 2008CanadaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE
an appeals court in Saudi Arabia upheld the death penalty for Dollard des Ormeaux resident Mohammed Kohail, 23, who was convicted of killing a Syrian national during a school fight in 2007.
- NOVEMBER 19, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED FOR KILLING FAMILY
a Saudi Arabian man was beheaded by the sword after being convicted of murdering
- NOVEMBER 18, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Salman bin Salim bin Khaled Sheqama was publicly...
Salman bin Salim bin Khaled Sheqama was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia for murder. No further details are available.
NOVEMBER 18, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: TURKISH BARBER SPARED BEHEADING
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia rescinded the death penalty against a Turkish barber convicted of "cursin
- NOVEMBER 13, 2008PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
PHILIPPINES: ARROYO APPEALS FOR 3 DEATH ROW OFWS
Philippine President Macapagal-Arroyo met Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud in a bid to stay the execution of three Filipinos convicted of killing fellow Filipinos in Jeddah.
- NOVEMBER 12, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADS CHADIAN FOR RAPE
a Chadian man was beheaded by the sword in the western region of Mecca, Saudi Ara
- NOVEMBER 12, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: FATHER IN AREEJ TORTURE CASE GETS DEATH SENTENCE
a court in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, sentenced a man to death for torturing and killing his 9-year-old daughter.
- NOVEMBER 10, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER IN SAUDI ARABIA
a man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry announced in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
NOVEMBER 9, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI BEHEADED FOR MURDER
a Saudi Arabian man was beheaded by the sword in the eastern province of Qatif after being convicted of
NOVEMBER 7, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI EXECUTED FOR STARTING DEADLY JAIL FIRE
a Saudi Arabian man was beheaded by the sword after he was convicted of deliberately starting a prison
- NOVEMBER 3, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADS YEMENI MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER
the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry said that Abdullah Suleiman, a Yemeni man convicted of murder, was
- NOVEMBER 1, 2008CanadaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: ONLY SAUDI KING CAN PREVENT CANADIAN'S BEHEADING
a Canadian citizen is one step closer to execution after a Saudi appeals court upheld his death sentence.
OCTOBER 31, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI BEHEADED FOR RAPE
a Saudi Arabian convicted of rape was beheaded by the sword in the capital Riyadh, the interior
- OCTOBER 22, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADED FOR BEATING HIS WIFE TO DEATH
a Saudi Arabian man was beheaded by the sword in the southern province of Jazan after being convicted of
- OCTOBER 21, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS TWO MEN CONVICTED OF MURDER
two men convicted of murder were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said.
- OCTOBER 20, 2008PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
'CHANCES OF GETTING REMAINS OF OFW BEHEADED IN SAUDI SLIM'
the Philippine government submitted a request asking Saudi Arabian authorities to repatriate the remains of overseas Filipino worker Jenifer Bedoya who was beheaded last October 14, 2008.
- OCTOBER 17, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: TWO PAKISTANIS BEHEADED ON DRUG CHARGES
two Pakistani citizens convicted of smuggling heroin into Saudi Arabia were beheaded by the sword in the
- OCTOBER 16, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI NATIONAL BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabian authorities beheaded a Saudi man convicted of murder. The Interior Ministry said Faten bin
- OCTOBER 14, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS CITIZEN FOR RAPE AND THEFT
Saudi Arabian authorities announced the beheading of Saudi Arabian citizen Fahd al-Shadoukhey, who was convicted of theft and rape while under the influence of alcohol.
- OCTOBER 14, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS FILIPINO FOR MURDER
the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry announced that Venancio Ladion...
- OCTOBER 14, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: 3 SRI LANKANS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
a Jeddah court in Saudi Arabia sentenced three Sri Lankans to death and eight others, including five Indians, to imprisonment after they were found guilty of armed robbery and the murder of a Yemeni national.
- OCTOBER 14, 2008PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: OFW EXECUTED IN SAUDI THOUGHT HE WAS TO BE FREED
overseas Filipino worker Jenifer Bedoya, who was beheaded in Saudi Arabia, thought he was about to be released, according to family.
OCTOBER 14, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA DISPROPORTIONATELY EXECUTES FOREIGNERS AND THE POOR
human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that the Saudi Arabian government "continues
OCTOBER 14, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS TWO MEN
two men were beheaded in Saudi Arabia. Venancio Ladion, from the Philippines, was convicted of murdering a Saudi man in the holy city of Mecca by suffocating him and piercing his neck with a pen. He was executed by the sword, Saudi Arabian Interior Minist
- OCTOBER 13, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: OFW GROUP CONFIRMS DEATH FOR 3 KAPAMPANGAN
Migrante International (Migrante) lamented conflicting statements from the Philippines government on the fate of three Kapampangan natives from Mexico town...
OCTOBER 13, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI MAN BEHEADED FOR MURDER
a Saudi man was beheaded by the sword after being found guilty of the murder of a fellow countryman, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.
- OCTOBER 12, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. TWO MEN BEHEADED FOR MURDER
two Saudi Arabian men were beheaded by the sword after they were convicted of murdering two
- OCTOBER 8, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR DRUG PEDDLING
Ali Bin Abdullah Bin Musfir Al-Salouli Al-Bishi, a Saudi Arabian national, was beheaded in Bisha