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
- JANUARY 15, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Islamic scholars from across the Muslim world, in a...
Islamic scholars from across the Muslim world, in a bid to align themselves with the global movement against terrorism, have agreed on a definition of the term, but excluded Palestinian attacks against Israel from their condemnation
- JANUARY 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Three Saudi nationals convicted of homosexuality were...
Three Saudi nationals convicted of homosexuality were beheaded in the south of the country on January 1
- JANUARY 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic...
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law that prescribes the death sentence for murder, rape, drug trafficking and armed robbery
- JANUARY 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Of 889 executions recorded by Amnesty International...
Of 889 executions recorded by Amnesty International between 1990 and 2000, over half of the victims were migrant workers
- JANUARY 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Seven Westerners, including five Britons, are awaiting...
Seven Westerners, including five Britons, are awaiting trial in Saudi Arabia for some of the bomb attacks and could face the death penalty if convicted
- DECEMBER 3, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier,...
HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, paid SR4 million to save the neck of Ahmed Yahia Muhammad Al-Mutami who spent seven years in Hafr Al-Batin prison awaiting execution for preme
- NOVEMBER 13, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi national Abdallah Bin-Zafir Bin-Dabban al-Qahtani...
Saudi national Abdallah Bin-Zafir Bin-Dabban al-Qahtani was executed in Abha, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry, the Saudi news agency reported
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
An Afghani man was beheaded for smuggling heroin into...
An Afghani man was beheaded for smuggling heroin into the kingdom
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian man for smuggling an...
Saudi Arabia beheaded an Indian man for smuggling an unspecified amount of heroin into the kingdom
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Saudi man was beheaded for smuggling heroin and hashish...
A Saudi man was beheaded for smuggling heroin and hashish into the kingdom on more than one occasion, the official Saudi Press Agency reported
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man for shooting dead...
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man for shooting dead two compatriots during an argument, the official Saudi Press Agency reported
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Saudi man was beheaded for stabbing dead a compatriot...
A Saudi man was beheaded for stabbing dead a compatriot during an argument, Saudi television reported
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of...
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling an unspecified amount of hashish into the kingdom
- AUGUST 24, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Saudi news agency SPA reported that Duwayhi Bin-Fuhayd...
The Saudi news agency SPA reported that Duwayhi Bin-Fuhayd Bin-Muhammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi national, was executed on after being found guilty of armed robbery and sexually assaulting young boys
- AUGUST 24, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Sayed...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Sayed bin Mahboub Sayed Amir, an Indian man, was executed for smuggling heroin into the country
- AUGUST 23, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A statement from the Saudi Interior Ministry announced...
A statement from the Saudi Interior Ministry announced that Harun Bin-Muhammad Adam, a Sudanese national, was executed after the Islamic Shari'ah Court found him guilty of the murder of Malak Akram, a Pakistani
- AUGUST 20, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement that...
The Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement that Sa'id Bin Nasir Bin Muhammad Bin Jarwan Al-Asmari, a Saudi national, was publicly beheaded for shooting dead a relative during an argument
- AUGUST 19, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Saudi Press Agency reported that Kanujia Din Dayal,...
The Saudi Press Agency reported that Kanujia Din Dayal, an Indian man, was beheaded for murdering a Saudi national by bashing his head with a rock during an argument
- AUGUST 15, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Three Britons who admitted their guilt for three bomb...
Three Britons who admitted their guilt for three bomb explosions in the kingdom in 2000 could face the death penalty
- AUGUST 11, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Yahia...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Yahia bin Mayyid al-Karni was publicly beheaded in Southern Saudi Arabia after being convicted of shooting dead a young woman from his tribe
- AUGUST 2, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that a Nigerian...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that a Nigerian man was publicly beheaded in the Red Port city of Jeddah for smuggling cocaine into the country
- JULY 31, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Saudi man convicted...
The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Saudi man convicted of battering his father to death with a tent pole had been executed
- JULY 25, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Of 889 executions recorded by Amnesty International...
Of 889 executions recorded by Amnesty International between 1990 and 2000, over half of the victims were migrant workers
- JULY 24, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The authorities in Saudi Arabia carried out two executions
The authorities in Saudi Arabia carried out two executions
- JULY 20, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that two Saudi...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that two Saudi brothers were beheaded for raping a woman at knife-point
- JULY 17, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men for abducting and...
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men for abducting and raping a boy after getting drunk
- JULY 9, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man and his Yemeni accomplice...
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man and his Yemeni accomplice for killing a man with a meat cleaver in a row over money
- JULY 6, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Khaled...
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Khaled bin Nasser al-Khaledi was beheaded for abducting and raping a boy after getting drunk
- JUNE 27, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Yemeni man, Jahwi Hussein Qasim Abubakr, escaped...
A Yemeni man, Jahwi Hussein Qasim Abubakr, escaped execution by the sword in Saudi Arabia when his victim's father stood up at the last minute and forgave him
- JUNE 22, 2001Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The execution of Saudi national Salim Bin-Majid Bin-Salim...
The execution of Saudi national Salim Bin-Majid Bin-Salim Al Balalayf was carried out in the Al-Aflaj Governorate of Riyadh