Saudi Arabia: Executioners wanted

A beheading

“AsiaNews” has revealed that a shortage of executioners is slowing down the Saudi Arabian justice system

Mauro Pianta ROMe Executioners wanted urgently! Saudi Arabia is desperately looking for ways to make up for the lack of trained executioners who are skilled at beheading people sentenced to death under Sharia law. According to AsiaNews they seem to be a dying breed as “fewer people are interested in a "career" in executing others, a task that requires a lot of cold blood and a lot of training to be able to swing a sword properly.”
 
But “in reality,” AsiaNews reports, “the lack of trained executioners has not slowed down executions in Saudi Arabia. Since the beginning 2013, at least 40 people have been put to death. The last case occurred on 14 May in Najran, in the country's south-west. The executed felon, Maneh al-Daen, had been convicted of stabbing to death a fellow tribesman. Last year, the kingdom executed 76 people.”
 
A conviction does not automatically mean execution. Recently, a case involving two men, a Lebanese and a Saudi, sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes for pushing a young woman to convert to Christianity sparked a big debate.
 
“For years, the main human rights groups and many Western governments have tried to get the Saudi kingdom to implement fairer trials and less cruel executions. However, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where the death sentence by beheading can be carried out in a public place. The death penalty is applied in cases of murder, armed robbery, rape and drug trafficking, as well as witchcraft and sodomy,” AsiaNews reported.
 
The Kingdom’s courts “are forced to compete for executioners, who must travel around the country to carry out sentences. This is slowing down the justice system. To speed matters up, the Justice Ministry has issued an order allowing courts to shoot prisoners” on the grounds that this method does not go against Islamic law.

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