On Thursday, the state news agency (SPA) reported that the Defence Ministry of Saudi Arabia had executed two military employees who had been charged with treason among other crimes.
The two officers, a pilot, and a sergeant major, had been detained in 2017 and were found guilty of treason and failing to uphold military honor, according to a statement from the ministry cited by SPA. Both of them were sentenced to death. They were directed to the appropriate court, provided with all judicial protections, and admitted to the charges against them, the SPA continued.
In 2017, the Saudi military played a significant role in Yemen, where it had joined a coalition and had been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi militia since 2015. The Saudi statement did not provide any further information regarding the offenses. Although the fighting has mostly subsided, Riyadh has attempted to distance itself from the crisis, which has claimed thousands of lives and put millions of Yemenis in danger of starvation and disease. In 2021, the kingdom also executed three soldiers who had been found guilty of “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy.”
Saudi Arabia has come under growing international scrutiny due to its human rights record. Rights organizations have urged Riyadh to stop using the death penalty in light of claims of torture and unfair trials, including Amnesty International. According to Amnesty, the largest number of executions in the last 30 years in the kingdom occurred this year, with 100 victims, and 196 in 2022.
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