Saudi Arabia executes eight individuals associated to drug prices

#Saudi Arabia has executed eight individuals in a single day, state media mentioned, amid a surge in using the loss of life penalty within the Gulf monarchy notably over drug-related convictions.

The official #Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that 4 Somalis and three Ethiopians had been executed on Saturday (August 2, 2025) within the southern area of #Najran “for smuggling cannabis into the dominion”.

“One Saudi man was executed for the homicide of his mom,” SPA mentioned.

Since the start of 2025, #Saudi Arabia has executed 230 individuals, in accordance with an AFP tally of official experiences. Most of these executions – 154 individuals – had been on drug-related prices. The tempo of executions places the dominion on observe to surpass final 12 months’s report of 338 cases of capital punishment.

Analysts hyperlink the spike to the dominion’s “warfare on medicine” launched in 2023, with lots of these first arrested solely now being executed following their authorized proceedings and convictions.

#Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences on the finish of 2022, after suspending using the loss of life penalty in narcotics circumstances for round three years. It executed 19 individuals in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, in accordance with the AFP tally.

Activists say the dominion’s continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the picture of a extra open, tolerant society that’s central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform agenda.

Saudi authorities say the loss of life penalty is important to keep up public order and is barely used in any case avenues for enchantment have been exhausted.