Saudi Arabia has executed 130 people this year, compared to 83 in 2014,reacts to criticism of its high rate of executions by ordering three murderers and a drug smuggler to be beheaded today

Four executions have been carried out in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday 

Executions took place a day after critical Amnesty report on killings 

Saudi Arabia has executed 130 people this year, compared to 83 in 2014

Increase of executions after King Salman ascended in January 

Four people have been executed in Saudi Arabia, just one day after an international report condemned the country's frequent use of the death penalty.
This brings the number of judicial killings so far this year to 130, compared to a total of 83 in 2014 - when Saudi Arabia executed more people than any country in the world, except China and Iran.
Riyadh diplomats claims the rise in executions is due to the appointment of more judges, which has then increased the number of cases heard in court.



Judicial killings: Saudi Arabia has executed four people on Wednesday, bringing the number of judicial killings so far this year to 130 (stock image)

They deny that increase in executions in 2015 is related to the the ascension of King Salman, who began his reign in January this year.

All four executions took place in different Saudi cities on Wednesday. Three were of Saudi nationals convicted of murder - in Asir Province, the city of Taif and al-Baha Province respectively .

A Syrian man was executed in the northern province of al-Jawf for drug smuggling.

This comes the day after Amnesty International published a highly critical 43-page report on judicial killings in Saudi Arabia.   

The conservative kingdom has executed at least 178 people over the past 12 months, on average one person every two days, according to Amnesty.

Rising numbers: The number of executions have soared since the ascension of King Salman in January this year, with an average of one person put to death every two days,  according to Amnesty

Nearly half of the 2,208 people executed in the past 30 years have been foreign nationals, with many believed to have lacked sufficient Arabic skills to understand court proceedings.  

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation  of sharia - Islamic law  - and applies the death penalty to a number of crimes including murder, rape and drug smuggling.

Though not as common, Saudi Courts allow for people to be executed for adultery, apostasy and witchcraft.

People can also be executed for crimes committed when they were below 18 years of age. 

'Saudi Arabia's faulty justice system facilitates judicial executions on a mass scale,' Said Boumedouha, acting director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program, said in a statement

Most executions in Saudi Arabia are carried out by beheading, or in some cases by firing squad. In certain cases executions are carried out in public and the dead bodies and severed heads are put on display afterwards.

Often, families of prisoners on death row are not notified of their execution and only learn of their loved one’s fate after they have been put to death, sometimes through media reports. 

The conservative kingdom, whose judiciary is composed of clerics, denies its trials are unfair.