SAUDI ARABIA: BISHA’S ONE-MAN FIRING SQUAD

Zamil, a 55 year old Saudi Arabian, turned his hobby of hunting birds into a profession of executing criminals by gunfire. Hussain bin Zalfah, the governor of Bisha, in the Asir province, appointed him as executioner. Zamil, who has an elementary school education, said that before he carried out his first execution he went to Riyadh for sword training and to attend the beheading of three criminals in the country’s capital. But having never touched a sword, Zamil declined to use it to execute criminals and became a one-man firing squad in Bisha. “I fire bullets at the heart from the back of the criminal to make sure he or she dies quickly without prolonging the pain,” he said. “I have executed two women: an Indonesian maid who killed her employer and a Saudi housewife who killed her husband.” “Shariah does not prevent the use of the gun in place of the traditional sword,” said Sheikh Muhammad Al-Nujaimi, a scholar. Al-Nujaimi, however, said death by hanging or by electric chairs is against the principles of Shariah because these may prolong the agony and pain. Being an executioner is a part-time job in the Kingdom. Zamil says he receives SR4,000 for each criminal he puts to death. “Before it was SR3,000, but the Interior Ministry recently increased the amount to SR4,000,” he added. There are no special requirements for this position beyond an aptitude for using a rifle or a sword. After arriving at the site of execution, “we wait there until the charge sheet and the court verdict sentencing the convict to capital punishment are read out. We give some time for any pardon that might stop the execution. When there is none, the officer gives me a signal to do my job,” said Zamil. He said one day he waited for three hours as the spectators were imploring the family of the murder victim to forgive the condemned man. It is common for executioners to wait for any last-minute reprieve. In this case, despite the prolonged wait, there was no reprieve and the execution took place.