By Staff Writer
(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) — The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has executed five Ethiopian nationals in the kingdom’s southern Asir Province following convictions on border-crossing drug smuggling charges, official sources confirmed.
The Saudi government confirmed the implementation of the death penalty on Sunday. While the Ministry published the names of the five individuals, news outlets have withheld their personal identities out of respect for their families. The executions follow a separate incident last month in which five other Ethiopian citizens were subjected to the capital penalty on similar charges.
The executions have triggered heightened concern from international rights organizations. Human Rights Watch recently issued a statement reporting that dozens of Ethiopians charged with non-lethal drug offenses have been sentenced to death and remain on death row in Saudi detention facilities.
In a public statement issued weeks prior, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) affirmed that it is closely monitoring the legal status of nationals detained in the kingdom. The Ministry noted that sustained diplomatic and consular engagements successfully secured royal pardons for thousands of Ethiopian prisoners facing various judicial proceedings.
Concurrently, the Ethiopian government continues its large-scale airlift operation to return vulnerable citizens from Saudi Arabia.
Recent flights arriving at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport brought back 1,834 citizens across multiple rotations conducted over the week, comprising men, women, infants, and minors under the age of 18. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 88,000 Ethiopian nationals have been safely repatriated since the current national return campaign was launched.
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Many of these victims including those on death row in that Wahhabi joint are said to be daily laborers who earn a living by carrying heavy goods from place to place. They have no idea what they are carrying. Then they are caught with the sacks they are carrying which contain illegal drugs. They are totally innocent. But those lard tubby Wahhabi bigots murdered them. Woe my people! Woe! Woe!! Woe!!!