DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed three soldiers sentenced for “high treason” and “with the enemy”, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense.
The three are said to have been sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial.
The ministry does not name the alleged “enemy”, but the executions were carried out in the southern province bordering Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for more than six years.
Saudi Arabia has come under increasing scrutiny worldwide over its human rights record since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Istanbul Consulate last year and the detention of women’s rights activists.
Law groups, including Amnesty International, have called on Riyadh to stop using the death penalty, citing allegations of torture and unfair trials.
Saudi Arabia denies the allegations.
According to the Human Rights Commission, a government body, it executed 27 people in 2020, the lowest in years, from a record high of 185 the previous year.
Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Edited by Clelia Oziel