RIYADH: Saudi Arabia today (Saturday) executed three soldiers convicted of “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”, according to a statement from the kingdom’s Defence Ministry.
According to the statement, the soldiers were sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial. The state-run Saudi Press Agency identified the men as soldiers working in the defence ministry. It did not elaborate on how the men aided the kingdom’s enemies.
The executions were carried out in the southern province bordering Yemen where Saudi Arabia has been at war for more than six years against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
The Kingdom has come under increasing global scrutiny over its human rights record since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate and the detention of women’s rights activists.
It has executed 27 people in 2020, the lowest in years, down from a record high of 185 the year before, according to the Human Rights Commission, a government body.
