Saudi Arabia's 100th execution in 2023 slammed by rights group

Amnesty International labelled Saudi Arabia's recent announcement of executing 100 people since the beginning of the year a 'killing spree'.

The news of Saudi Arabia's 100th execution, announced by the official Saudi Press Agency, drew scathing criticism from Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director Heba Morayef, who called the policy a "chilling disregard for the right to life."

Morayef also noted that Saudi Arabia had "sentenced people to death for anything from a few tweets to drug-related offences following grossly unfair trials that fell far short of international human rights standards."

Her comments follow Saudi Arabia's sentencing of 54-year-old Muhammad al-Ghamdi to death over his posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he criticised corruption and the human rights situation in the country.

Saudi Arabia has also resumed executing those convicted of drug offences following the end of a moratorium on said executions in November 2022.

Morayef noted that "the death penalty is prohibited under international law for drug-related offences, which do not fall under the category of 'most serious crimes'."

Saudi Arabia in 2022 executed 196 people, a figure which Amnesty recorded as the highest number of executions in the country in the last 30 years and three times higher than 2021.