Saudi Arabia has once again shocked the world with its execution cases. According to AFP report, so far in the year 2025, 340 people have been given death sentence in Saudi Arabia. This figure is not only shocking, but is also the highest level ever in Saudi Arabia’s history. Earlier in the year 2024, 338 people were hanged, which was considered a record at that time, but this year that record was also broken.
This new figure came to light when the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed that three people convicted in murder cases were hanged in Mecca on Monday (15 December 2025). With this, for the second consecutive year, Saudi Arabia has crossed its own old record in hanging cases. Human rights organizations say that this situation is very worrying and it is raising questions at the international level.
Hanged for drug related crimes
If we talk about the cases, most of the executions have been done for crimes related to drugs. Out of the total executions given so far this year, about 232 cases are related to drug smuggling or related crimes. Human rights organizations argue that under international law the death penalty should be limited only to the most serious crimes, such as deliberate murder, but Saudi Arabia is also carrying out mass executions in drug cases.
Death penalty in terrorism related cases
Apart from drugs, many people have also been sentenced to death in terrorism related cases. There is also criticism regarding these cases because sometimes allegations are made under very broad laws and the process of trials is not considered transparent. Experts say that there are many allegations which do not have a clear definition.
Death penalty for minors
The most serious concern for human rights organizations is regarding matters related to minors. In recent months, two people who were claimed to have been minors at the time of the crime were also hanged. This is considered a direct violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, whereas Saudi Arabia has signed this treaty. In the year 2020, after international pressure, the Saudi government had assured that minors would not be given death penalty, but despite this, such cases keep coming to light.
practice of fair trial
Britain-based human rights organization Alquest says there are still at least five prisoners who could be hanged at any time for crimes committed while they were minors. The organization’s researcher Nadeen Abdul Aziz has said that this attitude of Saudi Arabia shows a very harsh and dangerous disregard for the right to life. According to him, in many cases forced confessions were made from the accused, fair trial was not conducted and then death sentence was given.
Large number of foreign nationals hanged
Foreign nationals have been hanged in large numbers, especially in drug-related cases. It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia had restarted executions in drug cases at the end of 2022, which was earlier stopped for three years. If we talk about the global situation, according to Amnesty International, after China and Iran, Saudi Arabia has remained at the third place in the world for the last three years among the countries carrying out the most executions. The current figures for the year 2025 indicate that this situation may become even more serious this year.
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