Prisoners convicted of drug offenses face “shock execution” in Saudi Arabia

The two Egyptian prisoners ate their routine last dinner in a prison in northern Saudi Arabia, not knowing that they would be sentenced to death for drug offenses the next morning.

Her sudden killing this month is another in a recent spate of drug-related executions in Saudi Arabia, after authorities lifted a moratorium on the death penalty for such crimes less than two years ago.

The cases have sparked an outcry from human rights groups and spread fear in Tabuk prison near the Jordanian border, where inmates said more than 50 defendants had been sentenced to death for drug smuggling and there were fears their execution could take place at any moment.

“We don't know whose turn it is. Maybe it's me or my closest friend,” said Mohammed, a 40-year-old Egyptian who ran a hotel in Riyadh before he was arrested in 2015 for receiving a furniture delivery that turned out to be full of drugs. “We are not notified in advance to say goodbye to our loved ones or even prepare psychologically,” Mohammed said tearfully by phone from the facility in Tabuk.

According to a count based on official figures, Saudi Arabia has executed 28 people for drug-related offenses since May, compared to just two in all of 2023.

The authorities consider the executions to be compatible with the Sharia Law – the Islamic legal system based on the teachings of the Quran – and is necessary to “maintain public order”.