Saudi Carries out 136th Execution this Year
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday carried out its 136th execution this year, putting to death one of its citizens convicted of murder.
Mutlig al-Otaibi had been found guilty of shooting dead a fellow Saudi because of an argument, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Most Saudi executions are carried out by beheading with a sword, in what the ministry says is a deterrent.
According to AFP tallies, Otaibi was the 136th Saudi or foreigner put to death by the kingdom this year, compared with 87 in 2014.
London-based Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia had the world's third-highest number of executions last year, far behind China and Iran, but ahead of Iraq and the United States.
Under the kingdom's strict Islamic legal code, murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.
The case of a Saudi youth facing execution for taking part in pro-reform protests has triggered particular international concern.
During a visit to Riyadh last week, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters he "called for clemency" for Ali al-Nimr, a member of the minority Shiite community on death row.
Nimr was just 17 when arrested in February 2012.
Source: Agence France Presse
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