Two people convicted of drug smuggling were executed on Thursday in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of the Interior announced.
This means that at least 106 people have been executed in the country during the first six months of the year, according to a compilation by the news agency AFP. A total of at least 170 people were executed throughout last year.
Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug-related crimes in 2022, after a three-year pause. This category of crime has been applied in seven of this year's execution cases. A more common accusation is terror-related crimes, which were used in 33 cases last year.
The Berlin-based European-Saudi human rights organization ESOHR condemns Saudi Arabia for having carried out "almost one execution every other day" this year.
This "demonstrates the Saudi regime's eagerness to extensively use the death penalty, in violation of international laws and the country's official commitments", ESOHR writes.
