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
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Janjana Arana, an Indian, was executed in Al-Dawadimah...
Janjana Arana, an Indian, was executed in Al-Dawadimah in the Riyadh area after having been convicted of murdering Saudi national Salim Bin-Naffa Bin-Nuwayfi al-Mutayri
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
An Afghan man was executed for smuggling drugs
An Afghan man was executed for smuggling drugs
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A man was executed for stabbing to death a fellow citizen
A man was executed for stabbing to death a fellow citizen
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Hadi Bin-Ali Bin-Sa'ud al-Safar al-Qahtani was executed...
Hadi Bin-Ali Bin-Sa'ud al-Safar al-Qahtani was executed in Khamis Mushayt in Asir Governorate after having been found guilty of drug smuggling and killing a policeman
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Tambi Raj Kaisafan Mani Mandiram, an Indian national,...
Tambi Raj Kaisafan Mani Mandiram, an Indian national, was executed after being convicted of smuggling heroin into Saudi Arabia
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Ali Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ali Mushrum was executed in Jazan...
Ali Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ali Mushrum was executed in Jazan after he was convicted of killing fellow Saudi Muhammad Bin-Jubran Bin-Jahhaf
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Two Egyptians, Al-Sa'id Mahmud Ibrahim Naqrish and...
Two Egyptians, Al-Sa'id Mahmud Ibrahim Naqrish and Hasan al-Sa'id Ibrahim Muhammad were executed in Al-Ula Governorate in Medina region after having been convicted of killing Saudi national Mansur Bin-Salim Bin-Ajaj al-Anazi
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Sago Gham Mrogan , an Indian man, was found guilty...
Sago Gham Mrogan , an Indian man, was found guilty of smuggling heroin and was beheaded in Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A man convicted of drowning a fellow Saudi by pushing...
A man convicted of drowning a fellow Saudi by pushing him into a sewage ditch after they drank alcohol was executed in Riyadh
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Farhan Bin-Abdallah Bin-Radi was executed in Riyad...
Farhan Bin-Abdallah Bin-Radi was executed in Riyad after he was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman, attempted kidnapping, forgery and impersonation of public officials
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian, Tawfiq Bin-Tasin Bin-Muhammad, was executed...
A Nigerian, Tawfiq Bin-Tasin Bin-Muhammad, was executed in Jiddah Governorate after he was convicted of drug smuggling
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The shari'ah court convicted Ali Bin-Muhammad Bin-Abdallah...
The shari'ah court convicted Ali Bin-Muhammad Bin-Abdallah al-Sharif of murdering another Saudi national, Muhammad Bin-Sultan Bin-Fayiz al-Buqmi and he was sentenced to death
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Abd-al-Khayr Bin-Abdallah Bin-Makhdur al-Mizyani al-Harbi...
Abd-al-Khayr Bin-Abdallah Bin-Makhdur al-Mizyani al-Harbi was convicted of the murder of Ahmad Bin-Makhdur Al-Mizyani al-Harbi and executed in Jiddah
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A man was executed in Hafar al-Batin after he was convicted...
A man was executed in Hafar al-Batin after he was convicted of selling hashish
- AUGUST 30, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Aziz Bin-Jubayr Bin-Hunaydib al-Majdali was executed...
Aziz Bin-Jubayr Bin-Hunaydib al-Majdali was executed in Mecca after he was convicted of killing compatriot Muslim Bin-Ayyaf Mu'afa al-Jahdali
- AUGUST 28, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Isa Muhammad Adam, a Nigerian national, was beheaded...
Isa Muhammad Adam, a Nigerian national, was beheaded in Jiddah after he was convicted by a shari'ah court of smuggling heroin and cocaine
- AUGUST 27, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Dawi Bin-Abdallah Bin-Manahi al-Rushaydi was executed...
Dawi Bin-Abdallah Bin-Manahi al-Rushaydi was executed in Riyadh after being convicted of the abduction and rape of two girls
- AUGUST 23, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Abdel Mussa Sheikh Mussa Abdel Mussa Sheikh Mussa,...
Abdel Mussa Sheikh Mussa Abdel Mussa Sheikh Mussa, an Indian man convicted of smuggling drugs, was beheaded in Riyadh
- AUGUST 13, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Khaled bin Ali al-Assiri was beheaded in the south-western...
Khaled bin Ali al-Assiri was beheaded in the south-western city of Asir for the murder of Abdullah bin Yahya al-Assiri, a fellow Saudi
- AUGUST 12, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Kanok Bonsod Sai and Ansawan Song, two Thai men who...
Kanok Bonsod Sai and Ansawan Song, two Thai men who were convicted of drug trafficking, were executed in Jiddah
- AUGUST 11, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Muhammad Bin-Ahmad Bin-Musa al-Hamdan was executed...
Muhammad Bin-Ahmad Bin-Musa al-Hamdan was executed in Al-Zulfi in Riyad Province after he was convicted of the murder of Khalid Bin-Muhammad Bin-Jurays al-Juraysi
- AUGUST 6, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Naser bin Raja al-Inizi was beheaded in Dammam after...
Naser bin Raja al-Inizi was beheaded in Dammam after he was caught trying to smuggle an unspecified quantity of hashish into country
- AUGUST 6, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Shah Jihan Mayah of Bangladesh was convicted of murdering...
Shah Jihan Mayah of Bangladesh was convicted of murdering Abdullah bin Ali al-Ashwan and mutilating his body
- AUGUST 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
An Afghan man convicted of smuggling heroin was beheaded...
An Afghan man convicted of smuggling heroin was beheaded near Mecca
- JULY 27, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed Amin Mansour, a Yemeni, was found guilty of...
Mohammed Amin Mansour, a Yemeni, was found guilty of stabbing and shooting to death Mohammed bin Humaidi al-Qahtani
- JULY 26, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani man convicted of drug smuggling was executed...
A Pakistani man convicted of drug smuggling was executed in Dammam
- JULY 25, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Ahmed bin Saad al-Ahmadi was found guilty of stabbing...
Ahmed bin Saad al-Ahmadi was found guilty of stabbing his nephew, Osama bin Ali al-Ahmadi, hitting him on the head with a rock and throwing his body in a well, an Interior Ministry statement said
- JULY 23, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Three Yemeni men found guilty of engaging in homosexual...
Three Yemeni men found guilty of engaging in homosexual acts and sexually molesting young boys, were executed in Jizan
- JULY 21, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Hussein ibn Shuraidah Al-Ruwaili, a convicted murderer,...
Hussein ibn Shuraidah Al-Ruwaili, a convicted murderer, was spared from execution at the very last moment when his victim's brother granted a pardon
- JULY 18, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani man, I'jaz Ali Ibrahim, was executed in...
A Pakistani man, I'jaz Ali Ibrahim, was executed in Jiddah Governorate for smuggling heroin into Saudi Arabia