Saudi Arabia has executed three soldiers sentenced for “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”.
In a statement on Saturday, the kingdom’s defence ministry said the three soldiers were sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial.
According to a Reuters report, the ministry did not name the alleged “enemy”, but the executions were carried out in the southern province bordering Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been at war for more than six years against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
The country has come under increasing global scrutiny over its human rights record since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
Saudi Arabia had also attracted global scrutiny since the detention of women’s rights activists.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called on Riyadh to stop using the death penalty, citing allegations of torture and unfair trials. Saudi Arabia denied the accusations.
According to the Human Rights Commission, Saudi Arabia has executed 27 people in 2020, the lowest in years, down from a record high of 185 the year before.
