Saudi Arabia on Monday carried out its 95th execution in 2016, putting it on track to top last year’s number of capital punishments, Saudi Press Agency reported.
Fahd Houssawi, a Nigerian man, was executed for murdering a Saudi police officer. A statement from the Saudi interior ministry said Houssawi had knocked the man to the ground before hitting his head repeatedly into the ground, beating him to death. He then injured another man in his attempt to escape.
Last year a total of 158 people were killed in death penalties issued by Saudi Arabia, surging by 76 percent compared with 2014. Most are either killed by beheading or firing squad, and Amnesty International has reported that bodies are sometimes displayed in public.
Rights groups have repeatedly called on Western powers to pressure its allies in the gulf to put a stop to the executions.
In addition to murder, a number of other crimes carry capital punishment in the Kingdom, including apostasy, adultery, robbery, kidnapping, and rape.
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