Saudis execute 81 for terror-related crimes, in largest mass execution on record

[Chris]

Saudis execute 81 for terror-related crimes, in largest mass execution on record
Riydah says convicts, all put to death in one day, committed ‘multiple heinous crimes’; says some were linked to Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Yemen’s Houthi rebels
By Agencies
12 March 2022

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia said Saturday it executed 81 people in one day on a variety of terrorism-related offenses, exceeding the total number of executions in the kingdom in the whole of last year. All had been “found guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, saying they included convicts linked to the Islamic State group, or to al-Qaeda, Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces, or “other terrorist organizations.”

They had been plotting attacks on vital economic sites, or had targeted or had killed members of the security forces, or had smuggled weapons into the country, the SPA added. Of the 81 people, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national. “The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead,” SPA said.

more.............. https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi...d-crimes-in-largest-mass-execution-on-record/

 

[Tall Timbers]

I wonder if they were public executions.

 

[Chris]

I wonder if they were public executions.

I'm not sure, but this was said later int he article:

“The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world,” the report added. It did not say how the prisoners were executed, though death-row inmates typically are beheaded in Saudi Arabia.

The wealthy Gulf country has one of the world’s highest execution rates.

The kingdom’s last mass execution came in January 2016, when the kingdom executed 47 people, including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied demonstrations in the kingdom.

It's kind of hard to tell if they were public or not. But I think they have had a mix of both in the past.

 

[Chris]

I found this article at Reuters that said that:

"The ministry did not say how the executions were carried out."

Since I can't see to find any pictures on the Internet, my guess is they did it at a prison or somewhere else where they do these things out of sight.

"Offences ranged from joining militant groups to holding "deviant beliefs", the ministry said in a statement."

I'm guessing if you are not a follower of Mohammed you might have qualified for this event.

 

[SkyRider]

I used to fly into the Kingdom years ago with the military and saw where this outside “chop-chop square” - as it was known - was located and where they carried out public executions for serious crimes and the chopping off of hands for stealing. I was told they would put Westerners and other outsiders up front to view these occurrences and to send the message how serious they were on crime there. Fellow crew members had told me that they had seen such happenings take place; I never had any desire to watch nor could I stomach to see such a spectacle.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I used to fly into the Kingdom years ago with the military and saw where this outside “chop-chop square” - as it was known - was located and where they carried out public executions for serious crimes and the chopping off of hands for stealing. I was told they would put Westerners and other outsiders up front to view these occurrences and to send the message how serious they were on crime there. Fellow crew members had told me that they had seen such happenings take place; I never had any desire to watch nor could I stomach to see such a spectacle.

I never liked being in Saudia Arabia. I've seen the square when they were doling out punishment. I was close but had no interest in wandering over. I was ordering a lamb sandwich from a vendor...

 

[SkyRider]

I never liked being in Saudia Arabia. I've see the square when they were doling out punishment. I was close but had no interest in wandering over. I was ordering a lamb sandwich from a vendor...

I didn’t care for the place either. I used to fly for a company here in the States and we had a contract flying for Saudia, so we were in and out of there quite a bit. Then worked for another airline overseas for about 6 years, and they had multiple contracts with different airlines, so the flying was good and varied. Eventually, they lost all those contracts with the exception of Saudia again. They wanted to base me there full time but I refused and cut my ties with them. Too much of that backward place.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I didn’t care for the place either. I used to fly for a company here in the States and we had a contract flying for Saudia, so we were in and out of there quite a bit. Then worked for another airline overseas for about 6 years, and they had multiple contracts with different airlines, so the flying was good and varied. Eventually, they lost all those contracts with the exception of Saudia again. They wanted to base me there full time but I refused and cut my ties with them. Too much of that backward place.

When I was deployed with aircrew, we'd almost never get out of "tent city", though I think my foray to that sandwich stand somehow occurred when I was there as aircrew... not sure how we finagled our way out for a change in meals... In the early mornings when it was still dark I'd run around the periphery of the camp... always wondering when I'd get picked off by a sniper through the chain link fence. I never felt safe in Saudi Arabia.

When I was there on General's staff I stayed in a different compound but had to drive into Riyadh each day to the place where we worked, and occassionally I had to go to a Saudi HQ of some kind where I'd always feel sick watching the hierarchy of royal family princes and everyone else deferring to them.

 

[SkyRider]

I've stayed in one of those compounds before. The Assam compound, I think it was called. Had a three room villa in there. Pretty nice but the compound was overrun with cats. I used to leave tins of tuna outside for these scrawny looking critters. I was in there for a couple of months - flying in and out of the country to far away destinations and back - but during the months of January and February, so the weather was ideal then. I remember having my wife send over a video of the Super Bowl, as I had no other means to watch it while working. It was the game where Janet Jackson had her infamous “wardrobe malfunction” and I thought the Saudis would see that when they pre-screened all content coming into the Kingdom and would toss the video. As far as I could tell, nothing was really visible, so they allowed me to have the tape.

I can remember having a flight into Medina - which was pretty close to Mecca - and upon checking into the hotel and going to my room, I was approached by a Sri Lankan houseboy who was practically begging me for a job and to get him out of the country. He said he was being mistreated by the Saudis and that he was desperate to leave. As you probably know, in the Middle East there, they employ a lot of foreigners from countries like the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and others on a 3 year or so contract. Most of those citizens can't find work in their own nations and so are promised good jobs and benefits in Saudi Arabia, only to find out once they come, things are not what they are promised. Passports are immediately confiscated - even for us aircrew, we didn't get them back until departing - and they are not allowed to leave until after a year for a visit home and the pay was considerably less than what they expected.

I was really heartbroken for this young man and I apologized - almost profusely - that it wasn't up to me to employ anybody nor to help them leave. I never had that happen before.

 

[Hidden]

I've stayed in one of those compounds before. The Assam compound, I think it was called. Had a three room villa in there. Pretty nice but the compound was overrun with cats. I used to leave tins of tuna outside for these scrawny looking critters. I was in there for a couple of months - flying in and out of the country to far away destinations and back - but during the months of January and February, so the weather was ideal then. I remember having my wife send over a video of the Super Bowl, as I had no other means to watch it while working. It was the game where Janet Jackson had her infamous “wardrobe malfunction” and I thought the Saudis would see that when they pre-screened all content coming into the Kingdom and would toss the video. As far as I could tell, nothing was really visible, so they allowed me to have the tape.

I can remember having a flight into Medina - which was pretty close to Mecca - and upon checking into the hotel and going to my room, I was approached by a Sri Lankan houseboy who was practically begging me for a job and to get him out of the country. He said he was being mistreated by the Saudis and that he was desperate to leave. As you probably know, in the Middle East there, they employ a lot of foreigners from countries like the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and others on a 3 year or so contract. Most of those citizens can't find work in their own nations and so are promised good jobs and benefits in Saudi Arabia, only to find out once they come, things are not what they are promised. Passports are immediately confiscated - even for us aircrew, we didn't get them back until departing - and they are not allowed to leave until after a year for a visit home and the pay was considerably less than what they expected.

That's very true. Many are victims of recruitment agencies back home who promised the moon and the sad thing is many have sold their lands or houses just to have enough money to pay the processing fees. Quite sad, really.

Far too often companies take a gamble in the hopes of landing a project and they hire workers from abroad while waiting for the project that may or may not be awarded. And even if they landed a long-term project which is very lucrative most of the time these companies almost always botch the job and had to incur penalties for not meeting the deadline or not passing the client's evaluation and when that happens they start delaying salaries until such time they go under and the local sponsor bails and leave these poor workers hanging, with not even a repatriation ticket given to them.

Happened to me in my previous company. Worse of it was that I was part of the initiative to hire workers and turns out the project that we've been counting on didn't come through. They didn't get their salaries, I didn't get mine for 4 months. Finally I mustered the courage to confront my manager who owns the company and told him to close up shop and give me NOC which is written consent that he is willing that I transfer my visa locally without sending me back home. It turned out to be a blessing because my next company was stable and the job was breezy and I still love what I do.

As for those workers that we hired, half were absorbed by another one of our divisions and half were sent home to India and Nepal. I felt incredible guilt for what happened and I asked the Lord to forgive me but I was an employee too just doing my job and I didn't know it would all come to that.

 

[SkyRider]

You're right, it is sad. I was based in Hong Kong for a year and a half, and had repeated flights in and out of Dubai. In the UAE, I would always talk to the hotel staff that included many from Asian nations about their jobs, contracts, working conditions, etc. Of course most said they were there only out of necessity and that it was far from ideal. A lot of them lived together, scrimped as much as they could to get by and sent most of their money home to family members. I used to go to a Dunkin Donuts store a lot to get a large cup of coffee to wake me up for the usual red eye flights back to Hong Kong, and got to know this young woman from the Philippines that worked there. She told me that she was a single mother and had two young daughters back home, ages 2 and 4. My reaction to her was that it must be killing her not to be able to see her young children, but she said that she had no choice and had to wait the full year before going home again to see them. Her mother took care of them while gone and that the money sent home really wasn't that much.