Pakistani drug smuggler beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Published June 10, 2015
Nazir Ahmed Sultan Ahmed is the 98th foreigner or Saudi national to be executed in the conservative Muslim kingdom this year. -Reuters/file
Nazir Ahmed Sultan Ahmed is the 98th foreigner or Saudi national to be executed in the conservative Muslim kingdom this year. -Reuters/file

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded a Pakistani convicted of heroin smuggling, despite arguments by rights experts that use of the death penalty in such cases violates international law.

Nazir Ahmed Sultan Ahmed was found guilty of smuggling the drug in his intestines, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Authorities carried out the sentence in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, it said.

According to AFP tallies, he is the 98th foreigner or Saudi national to be executed in the conservative Muslim kingdom this year.

Read: A Saudi beheading, an IS beheading

The number of executions has surged compared with the 87 recorded by AFP for the whole of 2014, but still far below the record 192 which Amnesty International said were carried out in 1995.

Drug and murder convictions account for the bulk of executions in Saudi Arabia.

According to London-based Amnesty International, use of the death penalty for other than the “most serious crimes” – premeditated killings – violates international law.

Saudi court proceedings “fall far short” of global norms of fairness, according to the rights watchdog.

Under the conservative kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law, drug trafficking, rape, murder, armed robbery and apostasy are all punishable by death.

The interior ministry cites deterrence as the reason for carrying out the punishment.

Opinion

Editorial

Race against time
Updated 09 Feb, 2025

Race against time

While some bright spots emerged at Breathe Pakistan moot, we must streamline our climate governance.
Open door
09 Feb, 2025

Open door

THE door is still open for talks, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has reminded the PTI. What matters, however,...
Football suspension
09 Feb, 2025

Football suspension

ONCE again, Pakistan has been ousted from the global football family. FIFA recently suspended the Pakistan Football...
A year later
Updated 08 Feb, 2025

A year later

A war of egos has been fought between a handful of individuals at the cost of the well-being of millions of ordinary Pakistanis.
Wheat decision
08 Feb, 2025

Wheat decision

THE federal decision to stop setting the minimum support price for wheat and cease the staple’s procurement...
Dhanmondi attack
08 Feb, 2025

Dhanmondi attack

HISTORY has shown that unless states deliver development and equal rights to all, disenfranchised people can target...