Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 78 people

Riyadh: Saudi authorities beheaded Tuesday two Pakistanis for drug smuggling in the ultraconservative kingdom’s first executions of the year, the interior ministry said.

Abrar Hussain Nizar Hussain was executed in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after being convicted of trying to smuggle in heroin hidden in his stomach, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

Zahid Khan Barakat was beheaded in Qatif, in Eastern Province, over a similar charge, a separate statement said.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 78 people, according to an AFP count.

In 2012, Saudi Arabia carried out 76 executions, according to a tally based on official figures. Rights group Amnesty International put 2012’s figure at 79.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the nation’s strict version sharia.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January 14, 2014