Saudi Arabia Executes Eight Individuals in Single Day

Saudi Arabia has executed eight individuals in a single day, state media reported, amidst a notable increase in the use of the death penalty within the Gulf kingdom—particularly in cases related to drug offences.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced that on Saturday, four Somali nationals and three Ethiopians were executed in the southern Najran region for smuggling hashish into the country. Additionally, one Saudi man was executed for the murder of his mother.

Since the start of 2025, Saudi Arabia has carried out 230 executions, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

The acceleration of executions is expected to exceed last year’s record of 338 capital punishments.

Analysts attribute the surge to the kingdom’s intensified “war on drugs,” which was launched in 2023. Many of those arrested during the initial phases of the campaign are now being executed following their trials and convictions.

Saudi Arabia resumed capital punishment for drug offences at the end of 2022, after a suspension lasting approximately three years. The country executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, as per the AFP data.

Human rights activists argue that the kingdom’s persistent use of the death penalty undermines the image of a more open and tolerant society—an image central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform agenda.

However, Saudi authorities maintain that the death penalty is a necessary tool to uphold public order and is only applied after all legal avenues for appeal have been exhausted.