The Saudi authorities executed 170 death row inmates in 2023a higher number than in 2022, according to an AFP tally based on announcements by Saudi authorities.

By December 31, 2023, 170 people on death row had been executed in the Sunni kingdom compared to 147 in all of 2022. A record 187 executions were recorded in 2019.

The last executions took place yesterday, Sunday. These are Saudis who had been convicted of murder.

Thirty-three people “involved in terrorism cases” and two soldiers convicted of high treason are among the 170 executed in 2023.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 147 convicts, 81 of them in a single day, causing a wave of reactions from around the world.

Human rights defenders denounce these executions, which are most often carried out by beheading, but the Saudi authorities consider the executions “compliant with Sharia” and necessary to “maintain public order”.

Saudi Arabia is at the top of the world ranking of states that use the death penalty, behind only China and Iran, according to human rights groups.