Saudi Arabia sets new record for executions in 2025

Saudi Arabia has for the second consecutive year set a new record for the number of executions carried out, according to human rights group Reprieve.

The organisation, which monitors the kingdom’s use of the death penalty, reported that at least 347 people were executed in 2025, up from 345 in 2024. Reprieve described the year as the “bloodiest” since it began tracking executions in the country, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Around two-thirds of those executed were convicted of crimes unrelated to drugs, and more than half were foreign nationals, seemingly part of the government’s declared “war on drugs.”

“Saudi Arabia is operating with complete impunity now. It's almost making a mockery of the human rights system,” said Jeed Basyouni, head of Reprieve’s death penalty programme for the Middle East and North Africa.

Basyouni also highlighted that torture and forced confessions remain widespread practices within Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system.

By Vugar Khalilov