Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed a member of the royal family for murder, in a rare case involving one of the thousands of members of the House of Saud.

"Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital Riyadh for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl," said a statement released by the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia.

According to an AFP tally of ministry statements, Kabir was the 134th local or foreigner put to death this year.

An unnamed prince was also sentenced to death for killing his friend in November 2014, Arab News reported.

The sentence reflected the kingdom's “fair justice system,” Arab News quoted the victim's uncle Abdul Rahman al-Falaj as saying.

Most people are put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. Saudi Arabia has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

Amnesty International says the kingdom carried out at least 158 death sentences in 2015, making it the third most prolific executioner after Iran and Pakistan. However, Amnesty's figures do not include secretive China.

Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for “terrorism” on a single day in January this year.

Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom but the government says the death penalty is a deterrent.