Saudi Arabia Executes 81 Men in One Day, 12 More Than Last Year's Total Number

Saudi Arabia has passed last year's number in a single day.

(Photo: iStock)

In a stunning announcement, Saudi Arabia said that it executed 81 men on Saturday, 12 March. The number is 12 more than the total number of people the country executed in all of last year – 69.

The group of people to be executed included seven Yemenis and one Syrian national.

They were convicted of "multiple heinous crimes," including terrorism, according to Saudi Press Agency, a state news agency.

Some of the executed have been accused of being affiliated in whatever capacity to the Islamic State group (IS), al-Qaeda or even the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saturday's event is now the largest known mass execution carried out in the modern history of Saudi Arabia.

The SPA report said that "the accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process."

"The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world," it added, as translated and quoted by Al Jazeera.

Iran, a Shia country, suspended talks with Saudi Arabia, without giving any official reason. It, however, condemned the mass executions that, according to activists, included 41 Shi'ite Muslims.

What's noteworthy is that in 2020, five countries accounted for 84 percent of all recorded executions by a state. On the top of that list was Iran, with 253 executions.

Saudi Arabia followed with 149. Data from countries like China and North Korea are unavailable.