ALREADY 45 BEHEADINGS IN 2015 - SAUDI ARABIA ON PACE TO EASILY BEAT 2014'S DECAPITATION LEVE

Already 45 Beheadings in 2015 – Saudi Arabia on Pace to Easily Beat 2014’s Decapitation Level

Michael Krieger | Posted Monday Mar 16, 2015 at 3:55 pm

Screen Shot 2015-03-16 at 3.44.13 PMOne of last year’s most popular posts was titled: Record Beheadings and the Mass Arrest of Christians – Is it ISIS? No it’s Saudi Arabia. Here’s an excerpt:

   In the past month, a group of radical Islamic extremists based in the Middle East beheaded at least 23 people and enforced a ban on Christianity by arresting a group of people for practicing the faith in a private home.

   No, I’m not talking about ISIS. The real culprit is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of the America’s closest global allies.

   I have highlighted the inhumanity of the Saudi regime frequently recently in order to demonstrate the incredible hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy. While America’s phony politicians and useless mainstream media will often hype anti-Chrtistian bigotry and humanitarian issues when it suits the status quo message, the true driver of U.S. foreign policy can be summarized with two words: CORPORATE PROFITS.

It appears last year’s jump in beheadings was just the beginning for the Saudi monarchy, which follows a form of Sharia Islamic law in which one can be put to death for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking. In case you aren’t familiar with the term “apostasy,” here’s the definition from Merriam-Webster.

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In 2015 to-date, the Saudis have averaged a little over one beheading every 48 hours, putting the latest tally at 45. Last year, they were only able to hit 87, but are clearly trying to make up for lost time. The Telegraph reports that:

   A man convicted of murder was beheaded in the Saudi capital on Monday, amid a steep rise in the number of executions in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom this year.

   The beheading of Saad bin Abdullah al-Jadid, who had shot dead fellow Saudi Abdullah bin Faraj al-Gahtani, took to 45 the number of executions since January 1, according to an AFP count.

   Saudi Arabia has carried out around 80 executions annually since 2011, with 87 recorded last year by AFP.

   Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s version of Sharia Islamic law.

   Earlier this month, it was reported Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes after being convicted of insulting Islam, could face death by beheading, according to his family.

   The case attracted worldwide condemnation when he was publicly flogged in January. His family said they have been told he is to be tried for apostasy.

While we’re on the topic, just last week the Guardian reported that blogger and human rights activist, Mohammed al-Bajadi, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail. What could he have done, you ask, to justify such a sentence? Well, the Guardian reports that:

   A founding member of one of the few independent human rights groups in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, a regional rights group has said.

   Mohammed al-Bajadi was sentenced last Thursday by the specialised criminal court in Riyadh, whose jurisdiction is related to terrorism, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) said in a statement on Wednesday.

   Bajadi, in his 30s, faced various accusations including acquiring banned books, organising a protest by the families of prisoners and publishing material that “would prejudice public order”, the group said.

   The comments came in response to worldwide outrage over the sentence of 1,000 lashes handed to another activist, Raif Badawi, for “insulting Islam”.

   The foreign ministry said the country’s constitution “is based on sharia (Islamic law) that guarantees human rights”.

This is one of the American government’s closest global allies.

Naturally, some human rights are more equal than others.

For related articles, see:

Saudi Arabia Sentences 3 Lawyers to Jail for Tweets

How the NSA is Actively Helping Saudi Arabia to Crackdown on Dissent

Saudi Arabia Passes New Law that Declares Atheists “Terrorists”

Meet the U.S. Allies – Saudi Arabia Passes Draconian, Medieval Laws to Crush Dissent

Saudi Man Receives 3 Year Prison Sentence and 450 Lashes for Being Gay

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger