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
- OCTOBER 15, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 15, Sultan al-Shahri, a Saudi man, was executed...
On October 15, Sultan al-Shahri, a Saudi man, was executed for shooting to death a fellow citizen after a dispute
- OCTOBER 12, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 12, Abd al-Aziz Bin Faraj Bin Muharib al-Shammiri...
On October 12, Abd al-Aziz Bin Faraj Bin Muharib al-Shammiri was beheaded
- OCTOBER 8, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 8, Carlito Soriya a Filipino was beheaded...
On October 8, Carlito Soriya a Filipino was beheaded in the western city of Yanbu for stabbing Ali Hamza al-Mizayni to death following an argument
- OCTOBER 5, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 5, Abdullah Bin Khidar Bin Muhammad al-Zahrani,...
On October 5, Abdullah Bin Khidar Bin Muhammad al-Zahrani, a Saudi Arabian national, was beheaded
- OCTOBER 4, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 4, a Saudi identified as Ali Bin Suhaym...
On October 4, a Saudi identified as Ali Bin Suhaym Bin Hassan al-Shihri was beheaded in Dammam, 10 miles from Dhahran
- OCTOBER 2, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 2, Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Haji, a 70-year-old...
On October 2, Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Haji, a 70-year-old Saudi, was being led to his place of execution in Abha's Al-Najar Square when the victim's 2 sons rushed out of the crowd to talk to him
- OCTOBER 1, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
In October, President Joseph Estrada said he would...
In October, President Joseph Estrada said he would seek clemency for 17 Filipinos reportedly detained for various offenses in Saudi Arabia
- OCTOBER 1, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
In October, a Saudi man, identified as Hani el-Sayegh,...
In October, a Saudi man, identified as Hani el-Sayegh, was extradited from the U
- SEPTEMBER 30, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 30, 4 Saudis were executed in a government...
On September 30, 4 Saudis were executed in a government building in Abha
- SEPTEMBER 27, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 27, Nigeria protested to Saudi Arabia...
On September 27, Nigeria protested to Saudi Arabia over the Kingdom's execution of Nigerians, mostly convicted of possessing drugs, without informing the Nigerian Government in advance
- SEPTEMBER 24, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 24, a Pakistani man was beheaded for trying...
On September 24, a Pakistani man was beheaded for trying to smuggle drugs into the Kingdom in his abdomen
- SEPTEMBER 18, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 18, 3 Saudi men were sentenced to death...
On September 18, 3 Saudi men were sentenced to death for a crime spree involving armed robbery, kidnapping and carjacking, during which they shot and injured a man
- SEPTEMBER 17, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 17, Wali Dad Sayyed Ajan, an Afghan, and...
On September 17, Wali Dad Sayyed Ajan, an Afghan, and Ashraf Kabir, and Indian, were beheaded for smuggling heroin into the Kingdom
- SEPTEMBER 16, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 16, a Saudi man was executed for stabbing...
On September 16, a Saudi man was executed for stabbing to death another Saudi man after a quarrel
- SEPTEMBER 13, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 13, 3 men, Fayez bin Ali bin Fahd Al Beeshi,...
On September 13, 3 men, Fayez bin Ali bin Fahd Al Beeshi, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al Amri and Abdullah bin Mashabab bin Abdullah Al Shihri, all Saudis, were executed for beating and repeatedly sodomizing a person at gunpoint
- SEPTEMBER 4, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 4, Safra Onaibi Slami, a Nigerian woman...
On September 4, Safra Onaibi Slami, a Nigerian woman convicted of drug trafficking, was beheaded in Jeddah
- SEPTEMBER 2, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On September 2, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Badawi was executed...
On September 2, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Badawi was executed in the southern province of Aseer for killing another man after a dispute
- AUGUST 13, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On August 13, Ibrahim Mohammad Ali, a Nigerian national,...
On August 13, Ibrahim Mohammad Ali, a Nigerian national, was executed in Jeddah and Shareef Khan Nasser, a Pakistani, was put to death in Mecca, both for smuggling heroin into the Kingdom
- AUGUST 6, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On August 6, an Indian man was executed in Jeddah for...
On August 6, an Indian man was executed in Jeddah for smuggling an unspecified quantity of heroin into the country
- JULY 23, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On July 23, a Nigerian national, identified as Idriss...
On July 23, a Nigerian national, identified as Idriss Aissa Muhammad, was beheaded in Jeddah Governorate, Mecca Region, after being found guilty of smuggling an unspecified quantity of heroin into the Kingdom
- JULY 22, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999,...
Saudi Arabia signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- JULY 16, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On July 16, a Nigerian woman named Aisha Saada Qassem...
On July 16, a Nigerian woman named Aisha Saada Qassem and Habib Qal Mohammad, an Afghan, were both executed after being convicted of smuggling cocaine and heroin into the country
- JULY 2, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On July 2, a Jordanian man was beheaded in Saudi Arabia...
On July 2, a Jordanian man was beheaded in Saudi Arabia for smuggling drugs into the Kingdom
- JUNE 22, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 22, a Saudi man was executed for shooting dead...
On June 22, a Saudi man was executed for shooting dead a compatriot in a dispute over land, in the southern Asir Province of the Kingdom
- JUNE 20, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 20, Abdullah Ibrahim Mohammed, a Nigerian man,...
On June 20, Abdullah Ibrahim Mohammed, a Nigerian man, was executed for armed robbery
- JUNE 18, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 18, Huwaymal Hulayyal Musallim al- 'Utwi, was...
On June 18, Huwaymal Hulayyal Musallim al- 'Utwi, was executed for smuggling an unspecified quantity of hashish
- JUNE 18, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 18, Abdul-Rahman wild Habibullah, an Afghan...
On June 18, Abdul-Rahman wild Habibullah, an Afghan national convicted of smuggling heroin, was put to death near Mecca
- JUNE 1, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On June 1, a Saudi was executed for killing a compatriot...
On June 1, a Saudi was executed for killing a compatriot in a dispute
- MAY 31, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On May 31, a Saudi man was executed in the Qassim region...
On May 31, a Saudi man was executed in the Qassim region for murdering his wife
- MAY 28, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On May 28, a Nigerian woman and an Indian were beheaded...
On May 28, a Nigerian woman and an Indian were beheaded for smuggling cocaine and heroin