Saudi execution spree continues as fears rise for Jordanian on death row

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed two more Saudi citizens for drug offences, taking the total number of executions in the past fortnight to 17.

The kingdom had previously given a commitment it would not impose the death penalty for drug offences, but has suddenly gone back on its word, executing seven Saudi and 10 foreign nationals. Saudi Arabia has already executed 130 people this year.

The spate of executions, as the kingdom celebrates its victory over Argentina in the World Cup, has prompted the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis to write to the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, and the Saudi ambassador in the UK to ask them to intervene to reprieve Hussein Abo al-Kheir, a Jordanian man.

Kheir, who is represented by the campaign group Reprieve, was moved to a death row cell on Friday.

He was arrested in 2014 for smuggling narcotics when crossing the Jordan border into Saudi, and says he only confessed when he was tortured, including being suspended from his feet and beaten on his stomach and legs. An appeal court lifted a guilty verdict in March 2017, but the government ordered a retrial six months later, leading to him being re-sentenced to death in November 2017.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention in October said his arrest has been arbitrary, and he should be released immediately.