Illustration by Amarjit Sidhu

SAUDI ARABIA: AUTHORITIES EXECUTE THREE AS ANNUAL TOLL HITS 150

December 8, 2015: Saudi Arabia executed three men in the last two days.
On December 7, Hawas al-Shammry, a Saudi, was put to death for stabbing his Saudi wife to death after a dispute, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Authorities carried out the sentence in Rafha, in the kingdom's north.
On December 8, Saudi Arabia executed a convicted Pakistani heroin smuggler and a Saudi murderer.
The interior ministry said the Pakistani, Khan Iqbal, was put to death in the holy city of Mecca for smuggling a large amount of heroin in his intestines.
In a separate case, Saudi national Haydar al-Ridwan was executed in the eastern city of Qatif.
He had been convicted of gunning down two Saudis after an argument, the interior ministry said.
According to AFP tallies, the cases of Iqbal and Ridwan bring to 150 the number of locals and foreigners put to death this year, against 87 for all of 2014. (Sources: Agence France-Presse, 7-8/12/2015)