Saudi Arabia executes US national convicted of torturing, killing his Egyptian father

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (Aug 16) executed a US national who was convicted of torturing and killing his Egyptianfather, as per state media reports. The latest sentence has brought to 19 the toll of foreign nationals sentenced to death this year in the country.

As per the official Saudi Press Agency, Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef was executed in the Riyadh region.

Citing court documents, SPA said that the court found out that Naseef beat and choked his father and wounded him after he died, further adding that he also used drugs and made attempts to kill another person.

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The mode of the death sentence was not mentioned by the Gulf kingdom but in the past, the country has often beheaded those given the capital punishment.

"We are aware of those reports and are monitoring the situation but don't have any specifics," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

He stated that a United States consular official last visited Naseef in the month of July.

World's third most prolific executioner

Often denounced for extensive use of capital punishment, Saudi Arabia was the world's third most prolific executioner last year, according toAmnesty International.

Since King Salman took over in 2015, more than 1,000 death sentences have been reported in the country, as per a report published earlier this year by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights and the UK-based group Reprieve.

Nearly 91 people, out of which 19 are foreigners, have been put to death this year, as per an AFP news agency tally based on state media reports.

The total number of executions reported in the year 2022 was double than what was reported in the year 2021. From 69 in 2021, the figure rose to 147 in 2022.

Executions for crimes related to drugs resumed in the year 2022, putting an end to a suspension that stayed for almost three years.

In the year 2022, an episode sparked a global outcry where81 people were executed on a single day for terror-related offences in the Gulf Kingdom.

(With inputs from agencies)

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