Prince executed for killing friend
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia has executed one of its princes for murder in a rare act of retribution against its extended royal family. Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir admitted shooting his friend Adel al-Mahemid during a brawl, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement.
The victim’s family refused to pardon the prince in exchange for ‘‘blood money’’, as is allowed under Saudi law, and all options for appeal had been exhausted.
Saudis were quick to congratulate King Salman for treating the prince as a normal citizen, starting hashtags ‘‘the retribution of Prince Turki Bin Saud’’ and ‘‘Salman the firm’’.
The prince was sentenced to death in 2013 for the killing, which took place in 2012 at a desert camp in Thumamah, just outside Riyadh. Witnesses said that a gunfight broke out during an altercation.
The interior ministry called the execution a legitimate punishment and confirmed ‘‘King Salman’s keenness on enforcement of security, justice and God’s judgments’’.
Saudi Arabia is fourth only to Iran, Pakistan and China in the number of people it executes. It applies a strict interpretation of Sharia, which enforces the death penalty for murder, drug trafficking, sorcery and apostasy.
The country regularly lashes citizens for minor crimes. It is one of the few countries to carry out beheadings in public, along with Iran, North Korea and Somalia.
Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir is the 134th person to be put to death this year.
Saudi Arabia executed at least 158 people last year, according to Amnesty International.
The Gulf kingdom rarely punishes the thousands of members of the ruling Saud family, who receive generous monthly stipends and are appointed to powerful positions in government.
This is despite rogue princes and princesses having been criticised for behaviour such as hosting drug-fuelled parties abroad.
Although royal punishments are rare, Prince Turki bin Saud’s execution on Wednesday is not the first.
Prince Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was publicly beheaded after he assassinated his uncle, King Faisal in 1975.
Two years later Princess Misha’el bint Fahd bin Mohammed al-Saud was executed by firing squad for adultery.
In 2009 an unnamed Saudi princess was granted asylum in the UK because she claimed that she faced death by stoning after having an illegitimate child with a British man.
In March friends of the dissident Prince Sultan bin Turki claimed that he had been kidnapped en route to Egypt and held under house arrest in Riyadh for speaking against the regime. - The Times