An American citizen convicted of torturing and murdering his Egyptian father was executed yesterday in Saudi Arabia.

“Bishoi Sharif Naji Nasif, an American citizen, was executed in Riyadh district,” the Saudi Arabian News Agency (SPA) reported, citing a press release from the Ministry of Interior in the kingdom, where the imposition of the death penalty is more widespread than anywhere else in the world.

The court found Nassif guilty of beating, torturing and murdering his Egyptian father, whose body he then dismembered, as well as drug use and attempted murder, according to the same source. The method of execution was not specified, but beheading is common in Saudi Arabia.

Aware of the reports about the execution of the American citizen in Saudi Arabia, said Vedant Patel, a spokesman for the US State Department, stressing that the State Department had no further details. He added that an official from the American consulate had visited Nasif in July.

More than 1,000 death row inmates have been executed in Saudi Arabia since King Salman ascended to the throne in 2015, according to figures from the Euro-Saudi Arabian Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR).

According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), 91 death row inmates have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, including 19 foreigners – from countries such as Jordan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

In 2022, 147 people were executed, double the number compared to the previous year. Among them, 81 convicted of “terrorism” were executed on the same day, sparking an international outcry.