Saudi Arabia executed 20 men over drug convictions in a two-week span earlier this month, quietly resuming capital punishment for drug-related crimes after an unofficial two-year moratorium.
, according to the government-run Human Rights Commission , an 85 percent drop from the previous year., the HRC said that “the sharp decrease was brought about in part by a moratorium on death penalties for drug-related offenses.”
But the 20 men put to death between Nov. 10 and Nov. 23 were the first to be executed for drug-related crimes since 2020.“What is happening is completely nonsensical,” said Taha al-Hajji, a Saudi lawyer and legal consultant for ESOHR. “It defies the directives of the government and its remarks. Mohammed bin Salman himself came out and proclaimed that they will lessen the punishments.”
Of the 20 men, 15 were sentenced to death for smuggling or receiving amphetamine pills — likely referring to Captagon, a powerful synthetic drug that grew in popularity during the reign of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, which would give tablets to fighters to fuel their crimes.
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