RIYADH: Saudi Arabia executed seven people for “terrorism” offences on Tuesday, state media said, the highest single-day figure since 81 were put to death in March 2022.

The seven were convicted of “creating and financing terrorist organisations and entities”, the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the Gulf kingdom’s interior ministry.

Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most prolific users of capital punishment, has now executed 29 people this year according to a tally of official announcements, after putting 170 to death in 2023.The nationalities of the seven executed on Tuesday were not revealed, but their names and titles indicated they were Saudi.

They were convicted of “adopting a terrorist approach that calls for bloodshed, establishing and financing terrorist organisations and entities, and communicating and dealing with them with the aim of disrupting the security and stability of society” and endangering national security, the official news agency said.

The vice president of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, Adel al-Saeed, condemned what he called “the vague and loose charges” behind the executions.

The statement by the authorities did not name the “terrorist organisation” the executed were accused of being members of, “what exactly the crimes it committed” were or “the role of the victims in these crimes”, Saeed said.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024