RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded a Pakistani man, the interior ministry said, bringing to almost 60 the number of executions in the kingdom this year.
Mohammad Yunus Mohammed Shoaib, executed in the Eastern Province community of Qatif, "was caught smuggling a large quantity of heroin into the kingdom inside his gut," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
His decapitation takes to 57 the number of people executed by sword in the ultra-conservative Gulf nation this year, compared with 78 people in all of 2013, according to an AFP count.
On Tuesday a Saudi, Hamad bin Awadh bin Hawi Al-Anzi, was executed in northern Jawf region "because he smuggled a large quantity of amphetamine pills into the kingdom," SPA said.
The Interior Ministry said the government "is keen on combating narcotics due to their great harm to individuals and the society."
A United Nations independent expert in September called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said trials "are by all accounts grossly unfair" and defendants are often not allowed a lawyer.
He said confessions were obtained under torture.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic Sharia law.
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@Kashif sorry my friend, i am an Internet freak and never come across such type of news about Westerners. A country who beg to others & always looking for aid can not dare to talk in loud volume. sad but truth. Who knows that that poor person was guilty or innocent.
the truth is that saudis can because saudis are supported by their puppets who rule Pakistan. let them do that to USA or UK national and you will see the uproar in media and demand for independent inquiry. the whole saudi political justice can not withstand unbiased scrutiny so they will settle with this.
when saudi starts beheading some of these princes who fund extremism in other countries, i will have much more respect for the kingdom.
Don't forget that the Saudis "donated" $2.5 billion to the Sharifs.
Too harsh punishment....
Ummah brother should be a little more lenient towards its fellow brother.
When was the last Westerner beheaded ?
Nobody questions Saudi justice system, be it human rights, USA or whatever. Nobody knows whether victim did actually smuggled heroin or uttered his voice against royal families.
It is sickening that the beheadings of Pakistanis continues in S. Arabian Kingdom. There is no written constitution and the whole system is arbitrary. As far as the logic of using Sharia laws, the monarchy itself is un-Islamic and cannot abuse any laws. The beheadings are inhuman, against the dignity of mankind in this day and age and carried out against nonviolent criminals is a crime against humanity. These are the kinds of punishments that terrorists use and justify when beheading innocent civilians. The most unfair and brutal part of these savage punishment is they are applied mostly against poor third world country citizens.
How come no protests in Pakistan against Saudia Arabia?
Every other day we hear about people being beheaded in SA for drug smuggling. Makes me wonder why there is such a huge demand for narcotics to begin with and where the supply is going