"around 9am. The convicted person is walked into the square and kneels in front of the executioner. The executioner uses a sword known as a sulthan to remove the condemned person's head from his or her body at the neck. After the convicted person is pronounced dead, a police official announces the crimes committed by the beheaded alleged criminal and the process is complete. The official might announce the same before the actual execution. This is the most common method of execution in Saudi Arabia because it is specifically called for by Sharia law. Professional executioners behead as many as"
"walked into the square and kneels in front of the executioner. The executioner uses a sword to remove the condemned person's head from his or her body at the neck with a single strike. After the convicted person is pronounced dead, a police official announces the crimes committed by the beheaded alleged criminal and the process is complete. The official might announce the same before the actual execution. This is the most common method of execution in Saudi Arabia. According to Amnesty International, at least 79 people were executed in the kingdom in 2013. Foreigners are not exempt, accounting for"
"Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Saudi Arabia. The country performed at least 158 executions in 2015, at least 154 executions in 2016, and at least 146 executions in 2017. Death sentences in Saudi Arabia are pronounced almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (""tazir"") rather than Sharia-prescribed (""hudud"") punishments, following the classical principle that ""hudud"" penalties should be avoided if possible. The rise in death sentences during recent decades resulted from a concerted reaction by the government and the courts to a rise of violent crime in the 1970s and"
"paralleled similar developments in the U.S. and China in late 20th century. Saudi Arabia has a criminal justice system based on a hardline and literal form of Shari'ah law reflecting a particular state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam. It is usually carried out publicly by beheading with a sword. A recent report by the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) shows that the number of beheadings in the kingdom during the first quarter of 2018 rose by over 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Occasionally they can be performed by shooting. A public beheading will typically take place"
"in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by beheading; however, at times other methods have been used. Al-Beshi, a Saudi executioner, has said that he has conducted some executions by shooting. Misha'el bint Fahd bin Mohammed al Saud, a Saudi princess, was also executed in the same way. Australian soldiers Harry ""Breaker"" Morant and Peter Handcock were executed by a British firing squad in the South African Republic on 27 February 1902 for war crimes during the Second Boer War; questions have since been raised in Australia as to whether they received a fair trial. In the United Arab Emirates,"
"relatively uncommon, although they are found in Muslim nations that follow a strict interpretation of ""sharia"", such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Beheading was the normal method of executing the death penalty under classical Islamic law. It was also, together with hanging, one of the ordinary methods of execution in the Ottoman Empire. Currently, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which uses decapitation within its Islamic legal system. The majority of executions carried out by the Wahhabi government of Saudi Arabia are public beheadings, which usually cause mass gatherings but are not allowed to be photographed or"
"families. Saudi Arabia engages in capital punishment, including public executions by beheading. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. In 2005 there were 191 executions, in 2006 there were 38, in 2007 there were 153, and in 2008 there were 102. A spokesman for the National Society for Human Rights, an organisation which is funded by the Saudi Government, said that the number of executions"
"that in the list of offenses done by Nimr al-Nimr most of them are purely ""thought crimes"" like ""disobeying the ruler"", ""inciting sectarian strife"" and ""encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations"". Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Saudi Arabia. The country performed at least 158 executions in 2015, at least 154 executions in 2016, and at least 146 executions in 2017. Death sentences in Saudi Arabia are pronounced almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (""tazir"") rather than Sharia-prescribed (""hudud"") punishments, following the classical principle that ""hudud"" penalties should be avoided"
"[Vietnamese] and mounted them on pikes or poles"". Although the Utah Territory permitted a person sentenced to death to choose beheading as a means of execution, no person chose that option, and it was dropped when Utah became a state. Saudi Arabia has a criminal justice system based on a hardline and literal form of Shari'ah law reflecting a particular state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam. Crimes such as rape, murder, apostasy, and sorcery. are punishable by beheading. It is usually carried out publicly by beheading with a sword. A public beheading will typically take place around 9am. The convicted person is"
"fight for their survival. Beheading was the normal method of executing the death penalty under classical Islamic law. It was also, together with hanging, one of the ordinary methods of execution in the Ottoman Empire. Currently, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which uses decapitation within its Islamic legal system. The majority of executions carried out by the Wahhabi government of Saudi Arabia are public beheadings, which usually cause mass gatherings but are not allowed to be photographed or filmed. According to Amnesty, beheading have been carried out by state authorities in Iran as recently as 2001,"
"carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. Many of the strict and unique practices in Saudi Arabia mentioned above come from Wahhabism, the official and dominant form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia, named after the preacher and scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Proponents consider the name derogatory, preferring the term Salafiyya, after the early Muslims known as the Salaf. This interpretation is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant' or 'ultra-conservative', however proponents believe its teachings seek to purify the practise of Islam of any innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings"
"the execution order, and at a signal I cut the prisoner's head off,"" he said. Saudi law theoretically allows the death penalty for many crimes: Murder is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. If a murderer pays a family of the victim blood money, and the family approves of the choice, the murderer will not be executed. The criminal justice system waits until the family makes a decision on whether the family of the victim will accept blood money or if the family of the victim will choose to have the murderer executed, or to completely forgive the perpetrator. The"
"King made a number of significant changes to the judiciary's personnel at the most senior level by bringing in a younger generation. Capital and physical punishments imposed by Saudi courts, such as beheading, stoning (to death), amputation, crucifixion and lashing, as well as the sheer number of executions have been strongly criticized. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. The 345 reported executions between 2007"
"occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the Second World War. Crucifixion is still used as a rare method of execution in some countries. The punishment of crucifixion (""șalb"") imposed in Islamic law is variously interpreted as exposure of the body after execution, crucifixion followed by stabbing in the chest, or crucifixion for three days, survivors of which are allowed to live. Several people have been executed by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, although on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. Most recently, in March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being"
"Beheading in Islam Beheading was a standard method of execution in pre-modern Islamic law, similarly to pre-modern European law. Its use had been abandoned in most countries by the end of the 20th century. Currently, it is used only in Saudi Arabia. It also remains a legal method of execution in Qatar, Yemen, and was reportedly used in 2001 in Iran according to Amnesty International, where it is no longer in use. In recent times, non-state Jihadist organizations such as ISIL and Tawhid and Jihad have used beheading as a method of killing captives. Since 2002, they have circulated beheading"
"Beheading in Islam Beheading was a standard method of execution in pre-modern Islamic law, similarly to pre-modern European law. Its use had been abandoned in most countries by the end of the 20th century. Currently, it is used only in Saudi Arabia. It also remains a legal method of execution in Qatar, Yemen, and was reportedly used in 2001 in Iran according to Amnesty International, where it is no longer in use. In recent times, non-state Jihadist organizations such as ISIL and Tawhid and Jihad have used beheading as a method of killing captives. Since 2002, they have circulated beheading"
"2016 Saudi Arabia mass execution On January 2, 2016, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 imprisoned civilians convicted for terrorism in 12 provinces in the country. Forty-three were beheaded and four were executed by firing squads. Among the 47 people killed was Shia Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The execution was the largest carried out in the kingdom since 1980. Nimr al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court on 15 October 2014 for ""seeking 'foreign meddling' in [Saudi Arabia], 'disobeying' its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces"". His execution was"
"white checkered headdress. Sharia, or Islamic law, is the basis of the legal system in Saudi Arabia. It is unique not only compared to Western systems, but also compared to other Muslim countries, as (according to its supporters) the Saudi model is closest to the form of law originally developed when Islam became established in the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century. The Saudi courts impose a number of severe physical punishments. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be"
"under arrest or in detention. The kingdom uses the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (religious police) to enforce its laws against apostasy. The Commission is composed in part of uncontrolled, zealous volunteers. To secure convictions, Saudi Arabia's administrative and judicial authorities routinely seek confessions. To secure confessions, the authorities commonly engage in severe violations of human rights. Persons accused of blasphemy may be subjected to torture or to cruel and degrading treatment as well as to prolonged and solitary detention. The proceedings which determine an accused's fate may be secret. Execution is usually by beheading with a sword"
"further states: Saudi Arabia uses the bench trial system. Its courts observe few formalities. The country's first criminal procedure code was introduced in 2001 and contains provisions borrowed from Egyptian and French law. Human Rights Watch, in a 2008 report, noted that judges were either ignorant of the criminal procedure code or were aware of it but routinely ignored the code. Criminal law is governed by Sharia and comprises three categories: hudud (fixed Quranic punishments for specific crimes), Qisas (""eye-for-an-eye"" retaliatory punishments), and Tazir, a general category. Hudud crimes are the most serious and include theft, robbery, blasphemy, apostasy, adultery,"
"condemned the embassy attack in Iran. Out of the total forty-seven people executed, forty-five were Saudis, one was Egyptian, and one was Chadian. 2016 Saudi Arabia mass execution On January 2, 2016, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 imprisoned civilians convicted for terrorism in 12 provinces in the country. Forty-three were beheaded and four were executed by firing squads. Among the 47 people killed was Shia Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The execution was the largest carried out in the kingdom since 1980. Nimr al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court on 15"
"ten people in a single day. Crucifixion of the beheaded body is sometimes ordered. For example, in 2009, the ""Saudi Gazette"" reported that ""An Abha court has sentenced the leader of an armed gang to death and three-day crucifixion (public displaying of the beheaded body) and six other gang members to beheading for their role in jewelry store robberies in Asir."" (This practice resembles gibbeting, in which the entire body is displayed). In 2003, Muhammad Saad al-Beshi, whom the BBC described as ""Saudi Arabia's leading executioner"", gave a rare interview to Arab News. He described his first execution in 1998:"
"of execution in which the victim is restrained and decapitated. The torture continued in various forms until his release. A Saudi official has denied that Sampson was tortured. Sampson was one of nine foreign nationals arrested on allegations of involvement in a series of car bombings targeting Western expatriates in Riyadh. British engineer Christopher Rodway was killed and his wife injured in one explosion, and a second bomb injured Britons Mark Paine and Steve Coughlan. The Saudi authorities claimed that the bombings were part of a turf war within a Western liquor trafficking ring, though the men were further forced"
"are barred from employment in the government, military, and oil industries. Ahmadiyya Muslims are officially barred from the country, although many Saudi residents and citizens practice the religion privately. It is illegal for Muslims to convert or renounce their religion, which is nominally punishable by death. Death sentences have been mandated as recently as 2015, although the most recent execution performed in Saudi Arabia solely for apostasy charges was conducted in 1994. In 2014, the government of Saudi Arabia passed new regulations against terrorism that defined ""calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of"
"Saudi Arabia has criminal statutes making it illegal for a Muslim to change religion or to renounce Islam, which is defined as apostasy and punishable by death. On 3 September 1992 Sadiq 'Abdul-Karim Malallah was publicly beheaded in Al-Qatif in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province after being convicted of apostasy and blasphemy. Sadiq Malallah, a Shi'a Muslim from Saudi Arabia, was arrested in April 1988 and charged with throwing stones at a police patrol. He was reportedly held in solitary confinement for long periods during his first months in detention and tortured prior to his first appearance before a judge in"
"increase on 2014 and the highest number recorded for Saudi Arabia since 1995”. Capital punishment represents the most dramatic clash between a ‘UN-sponsored’ human rights concept and Shari'a law. Shari'a establishes the death penalty as mandatory punishment for a number of Hudud crimes. “Moreover, some execution methods envisaged in the holy texts, such as flogging, stoning and amputation, violate international conventions that prohibit torture and cruel and inhuman treatments.” The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aimed at abolishing the death penalty, was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989. Article 1"
"the world where homosexual acts are not only illegal but punishable by execution. There have also been raids on ""gay parties"" and men have been arrested for ""behaving like women"". The usual penalties inflicted have been limited to flogging and imprisonment. Legal system of Saudi Arabia The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, Islamic law derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the traditions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The sources of Sharia also include Islamic scholarly consensus developed after Muhammad's death. Its interpretation by judges in Saudi Arabia is influenced by the medieval texts of the"
"in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Mauritania. Capital punishment in Islam Capital punishment in Islam was traditionally regulated by Sharia, the religious law in Islam. Crimes which could result in capital punishment included murder. In the modern era most Muslim-majority countries adopted criminal legal codes based on European models. Legal forms of capital punishment vary among Islamic countries. The Quran states, However, there is no Quranic verse supporting the method of stoning in Islam. The roots of this method of execution are to be explored in pre-Islamic religions, especially in Judaism and Torah, in which stoning"
"to death by beheading. Al-Marhoon was tortured during his detention and was convicted on the basis of a forced confession. Nimr al-Nimr and fourtyseven other Saudi shia citizens were sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court. Nephew of Nimr al-Nimr Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was also sentenced to death by it. Specialized Criminal Court (Saudi Arabia) The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) () is a non-Sharia court created in Saudi Arabia in 2008 that tries suspected terrorists and human rights activists. On 26 June 2011, the court started trials of 85 people suspected of being involved in Al-Qaeda in the"
"for males and by firing squad for females. In 2009, Amnesty International reported that ""at least 102 men and women, 39 of them foreign nationals, were executed in 2008. Many were executed for non-violent offences, including drug offences, 'sodomy', blasphemy and apostasy."" In 2008, Human Rights Watch reported that Saudi Arabia frequently convicts persons for alleged insults to religion. In 1999, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the lack of response from Saudi Arabia to inquiries about the circumstances of detained persons. In 2008 in Saudi Arabia, after Ra'if Badawi operated a website"
"Saudi judiciary can impose the death penalty according to three categories of criminal offence in Sharia law: A conviction requires proof in one of three ways: Giving an oath is taken particularly seriously in a religious society such as Saudi Arabia's, and a refusal to take an oath will be taken as an admission of guilt resulting in conviction. In order for an individual to be convicted in a Saudi sharia law court of adultery, he/she must confess to the act four times in front of the court; otherwise four pious male Muslims who witnessed the actual sexual penetration must"
"Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion, car or industrial accident, improperly administered execution by hanging or other violent injury. Suicide by decapitation is rare but not unknown. The national laws of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Qatar permit beheading, but in practice, Saudi Arabia is the only country that continues to behead its offenders regularly as a punishment for crime. Less commonly, decapitation can also refer to the removal of the head from a body that is already dead. This might be done to take the head as a trophy, for public display, to make the deceased more"
"a woman being executed. On 23 November 2017 Nidal Eisa Abdullah, the convict who raped and killed eight-year-old boy Obaida in May 2016, was executed. Capital punishment in the United Arab Emirates Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United Arab Emirates, although it is rarely carried out. Under Emirati law, multiple crimes carry the death penalty, and the sole method of execution is firing squad. Current law theoretically allows the death penalty for treason, espionage, murder, successfully inciting the suicide of a person ""afflicted with total lack of free will or reason"", arson resulting in death, acts of"