Watan-In a move that sparked controversy and condemnation in human rights circles, Saudi authorities executed the citizen “Nouman al-Dhafiri” after his trial, where he was accused of committing “criminal acts involving betrayal of his country and adopting a terrorist approach,” according to a statement by the Saudi Ministry of Interior.
While activists asserted that this death sentence came in the context of opinion-related cases and opposition to the ruling authority, the statement pointed out that the execution of citizen Nouman al-Dhafiri was carried out “for committing criminal acts involving betrayal of his country, aiming to disrupt the public order of the state, destabilize society and its security, and adopting a terrorist approach that allows the shedding of blood, wealth, and honor, and endorsing terrorist ideology and actions.”
The ministry revealed that based on information available to the security authorities, the arrest of “Nouman bin Aafat bin Madhi al-Dhafiri,” a Saudi national, took place on 6-6-1442, and the investigation by the public prosecutor’s office – according to the Ministry of Interior – led to charging the aforementioned individual with committing those criminal acts.
تنفيذ حُكم القتل بجانٍ لارتكابه أفعالاً مجرمة تنطوي على خيانة وطنه وتهدف إلى الإخلال بالنظام العام للدولة وزعزعة أمن المجتمع واستقراره، وتبنيه منهجًا إرهابيًا يستبيح بموجبه الدماء والأموال والأعراض، وتأييده للفكر الإرهابي والأعمال الإرهابية. pic.twitter.com/vnDJ0bpqNn
— وزارة الداخلية (@MOISaudiArabia) April 27, 2024
Executed in Riyadh
The ministry’s statement disclosed that the death sentence was executed on Saturday, 18-10-1445, corresponding to 27-4-2024, in the Riyadh region.
This death sentence against the citizen called “Nouman al-Dhafiri” has sparked sharp criticism of the authorities in the kingdom, with some asserting that this judgment comes within the context of targeting opponents of the crown prince through always ready vague charges of “terrorism and threatening state security.”
In this context, the writer Ahmed bin Rabeh said: “The Saudi authorities today executed one of its citizens (Nouman al-Dhafiri), and a statement by the Saudi Ministry of Interior indicates that the execution came on the basis of charges related to al-Dhafiri’s opinion and his opposition to the ruling authority.”
Death Sentences in the Kingdom
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries that carry out death sentences in the world.
The International Amnesty Organization has documented numerous cases in which authorities sentenced individuals to death on frivolous charges, ranging from a few tweets on Twitter to drug-related crimes, following extremely unfair trials that did not meet international human rights standards.
In stark contrast to the repeated promises of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reduce its use of the death penalty, the Saudi authorities executed 196 people in 2022.
أعدمت السلطات السعودية اليوم أحد مواطنيها (نومان الظفيري)،
ويشير بيان لوزارة الداخلية السعودية بأن الاعدام جاء على خلفية تهم تتعلق بالرأي للظفيري ومعارضته للسلطة الحاكمة.وقد صدر الحكم ونفذ في الرياض وفقاً لأحكام شريعة سقيفة بني ساعدة.
*قانون سقيفة بني ساعدة: تعارضنا أنت مرتد… pic.twitter.com/M2oZ54cEiQ
— أحمد بن ربح (@bn_rebh) April 27, 2024
This is the highest annual number of executions recorded by Amnesty International in the country over the past thirty years. The number of executions in 2022 increased threefold compared to those carried out in 2021, and it is at least seven times higher than the figure recorded in 2020.
In the past year, 2023, 100 people were executed, revealing their appalling disregard for the right to life.
In July 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court in Saudi Arabia sentenced Mohammed al-Ghamdi to death solely for tweets criticizing the Saudi authorities.
His brother, Dr. Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, told Amnesty International that the death sentence was an act of revenge against his political opinions.