Saudi Arabia beheads Pakistani for smuggling heroin
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Friday beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling heroin into the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, the interior ministry said.
Butha Mushtaq was the third Pakistani executed on drug charges in Saudi Arabia since October 15.
He was found guilty of smuggling heroin concealed in capsules which he had swallowed, and executed in the capital Riyadh, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
His execution brings to 59 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year.
Last year, 78 people of various nationalities were executed in the Gulf Arab state.
In September, a United Nations independent expert called for moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, which has faced harsh criticism from human rights group for carrying out executions.
Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has said Saudi trials “are by all accounts grossly unfair” and defendants often not allowed a lawyer. He said confessions were obtained under torture.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of Sharia law.
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Comments (56) Closed
Oct 24, 2014 09:22pm
GOOD JOB. This will make them think twice before doing this act.
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Oct 24, 2014 09:24pm
Justice served!
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Oct 24, 2014 09:37pm
Their Country Their law, Drug dealers deserve that,,,,,,
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Oct 24, 2014 09:40pm
Is this like a bench mark the KSA authorities have to reach every year?
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Oct 24, 2014 09:41pm
This is nothing but barnarism against humanity. No proper investigation takes place in this dictatorship country and poor labourers of other countries, especially Pakstans are the victims. I do not know as to why Pak. Govt is not helpling their nationals against this cruelty. It is duty of Pak Customs to check luggage of each out-going passenger to stop this smuggling, but bribes do not let custom officials do their honest duties. Where is Nawaz Sharif in this case ?
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Oct 24, 2014 09:46pm
Death punishment for drug related crimes is too harsh a punishment. By all means sentence the person to life if the magnitude of the offence justifies it.
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Oct 24, 2014 09:47pm
how can human just behead someone? this is too inhuman in today's day and age.. they could have been given life sentence or something like that but just publicly chopping some one's head is too much to digest....
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Oct 24, 2014 10:17pm
How come saudis can do this to the citizen of a friendly country?
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Oct 24, 2014 10:21pm
Good! We need this law in Pakistan as well!
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Oct 24, 2014 10:23pm
@Masood Khan But how long it will take us to think? This old method of smuggling and this crime of taking drugs to Saudi Arabia has been going on forever.
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Oct 24, 2014 10:34pm
Saudi guys make fun of us, pakistanis and call us Langoor. They call us cannon fodders!
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Oct 24, 2014 10:46pm
Stringent punishments require due process. That is, full lawyer/counselor access. Embassy assistance for the accused. Language barrier is another issue. The accused is not given all these facilities before he/she is convicted. Coercion leads to many convictions.
The bottom line is: no justice in Saudi Arabia. These beheading are just way to create fear among the population so they don't rebel...
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Oct 24, 2014 10:48pm
Dont know who duped him into
doing such a thing there must be a
organization behind this, now
dead men don't talk........
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Oct 24, 2014 10:59pm
With so many executions, it doesn't look like this kind of punishment is working. Real drug kingpins live happily and pawns get executed.
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Oct 24, 2014 11:04pm
Do not see the drug lords getting executed (probably because they are related to the Royal family) but only the lowly couriers. Some justice, this!
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Oct 24, 2014 11:17pm
They are the elder brothers of entire ummah. They have to guide us even if it takes a stick or a sword.
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Oct 24, 2014 11:28pm
Good Justice system.This is the reason crime rate is low in Saudi Arabia.We need to learn from them.
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Oct 24, 2014 11:38pm
While beheading of drug smuggler seems inhuman to many, think for a moment what happens to a person who gets addicted to heroin... he dies... and without your sympathies and without any violation to his human rights..
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Oct 24, 2014 11:49pm
Death sentence for drug smuggling is very harsh......
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Oct 24, 2014 11:51pm
@Jamila khatoon I totally totally agree with you Ms. Jamila
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Oct 24, 2014 11:58pm
One way to curb this is to find out the time, date, and airport of departure of this person from Pakistan, and then suspend the entire shift of drug enforcement agency and Customs on that day.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:20am
Saudi justice system is totally unfair. No access for defense to a detainee. They are beheading massively. Allah is watching it all.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:26am
@ali Crime rate in the Vatican city is zero.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:34am
@Jamila khatoon : seriously....we need to preserve some respect for future generation to come.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:41am
@citizen - How come the citizens of that BROTHER country smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia?
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Oct 25, 2014 12:42am
Smuggling contraband is two way street. Pakistani was a carrier, there must be a distributor , most probably a Saudi and the drug users. Beheading a Pakistani is just a cop out, there is no appeal process, there is no proper investigation. Kingdom is dispensing quick justice. Did Pakistan's Diplomatic Mission play any active role in the defense of executed ?
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Oct 25, 2014 12:50am
@ali What is point of low crime rate? if crime kills 10 people but just systems kills 20.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:51am
When drug traffickers don't care about human lives, why should Saudi Govt spare their lives? I am not sure why people calling Saudi Govt cruel etc.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:52am
Every Week Saudis are sending great message to Pakistanis who are involve in drug smuggling.. Keep it Up!!
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Oct 25, 2014 12:55am
It is a disgusting that Saudi Arabian Government practices inhumane acts in the name of religion
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Oct 25, 2014 01:13am
but the ummah?
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Oct 25, 2014 01:16am
How did the man escaped scott-free in pakistan.He got away with it in pak but was caught in s.arabia.It is crystal clear instance to evaluate the gap in the ratio of crimes in the two countries.
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Oct 25, 2014 01:29am
Well whatever works for them.. It may seem too brutal or harsh but the reason is to set precedence. If you know the extreme consequences, you are most likely not going to attempt.. But then there are some lost or too desperate souls who think they can outsmart everyone.. Too bad; still, In some cases, I believe in compassion and giving another chance (where permissible) to repent... Drugs, Rape, Murder, theft or any other crimes that affects society as a whole are extreme and should be dealt accordingly..
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Oct 25, 2014 01:59am
@Abbas Ali Good suggestion. It may very effective.
Also government can contact Saudi authorities to find the modus-operandi adopted by these operators so that these loopholes can be plugged at local airports.
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Oct 25, 2014 02:30am
It is shame-victim do not have a attorney to defend-and the accused were torture. It must stop. Who buy these drugs and have we ever heard a Saudi was killed using drugs. These drugs have been sold in places. Liquor is available in the houses of may high ranking officials-and they never punished. These laws are for those who are people from developing countries and very poor. Sex, drug, ill-treatment and alcohol are on sale in the Kingdom.
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Oct 25, 2014 03:20am
@Ghani K : Distributor could be Pakistan's Mission. I won't be surprised.
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Oct 25, 2014 03:35am
It means corrupt custom officials are not doing their duties. Custom officials who cleared this person must be apprehended and fully investigated.
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Oct 25, 2014 04:13am
what about the Saudis who cross border every weekend to come in to Dubai for some ... leisure shall we say? no law there? Saudis needs to cut the double standards when it comes to treating of everyone but than Arabs are hardly bipartisan aren't they?
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Oct 25, 2014 04:25am
I guarantee that Saudis had never severed the head of any Western nation. BTW, it is curse to be a Pakistani these days.
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Oct 25, 2014 04:53am
@white noise I lived in Saudi Arabia long period of time. I can assure you large number of Saudi population drinks, and use drugs and it is freely available at a high price. Rich people have even poolside bars well behind high walls of their mansion.
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Oct 25, 2014 05:00am
Its appalling but I am shocked to see that so many Pakistanis here feel that its justified. What a shame.
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Oct 25, 2014 05:17am
Anyone who supports this belongs to the stone age!
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Oct 25, 2014 05:43am
@jj ,how many people live in Vatican so called CITY,may be 3 to 9.
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Oct 25, 2014 05:53am
Will the saudis also behead a member of their family if it commits rape, apostasy, murder someone or consume drugs?
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Oct 25, 2014 06:05am
Very few countries practice beheading as punishment for non violent crimes except our Saudi Brothers and ISIS. Most of the victims of these beheading are naive Pakistanis. However, what are a few beheading between two brotherly countries? As long as the West is not doing it we are fine with it.
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Oct 25, 2014 06:11am
Well ...looks like doubt ibrahim is doing pretty good job in Pakistan.
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Oct 25, 2014 06:15am
@S good idea, implementing this law will reduce the population by at least 50%
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Oct 25, 2014 06:22am
Pakistan should do the same thing to terrorist, Armed robbers, and rapists.
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Oct 25, 2014 06:56am
@Masood Khan how about if a person is innocent?
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Oct 25, 2014 06:56am
Did anyone from your govt try to help the victim? would you have accepted the punishment if he was punished in india ? grow up
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Oct 25, 2014 08:50am
@Rogers Evans ,,,,,,NOT AGREE AT ALL...........
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Oct 25, 2014 08:56am
@Md Imran if they are your older Brother then you are duped. If you are pakistani I would say India is a your big brother because of historic and ancesterial reasons. You are a part of 5000 yr Sindhu civilization ur religion changed just few years back i.e. 200 years.
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Oct 25, 2014 09:04am
When it is legalized to kill Militants why no such people who become cause of thousands people killing.
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Oct 25, 2014 09:15am
Pakistan needs to make Passport issuance process absolutely foolproof, most of these drug smugglers are illegal Afghan citizens travelling on Pakistani passports...
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Oct 25, 2014 01:59pm
I wonder how would Saudi Arabia look like without oil, better or worse than Pakistan?
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Oct 25, 2014 04:20pm
"Hat-Trick" three in a spate of a week or so!
Why not also "chop the heads off" those that are demanding the drugs? especially the "Royal princes & princesses?" who enjoy their "drug & drink fueled wild parties?" .......Like we "organise fro them when visiting Europe!
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