At least 122 people have been executed by the Saudi government this year as the royal family intensifies a crackdown on dissenters.
The first half of 2019 has been a bloody one in Saudi Arabia, with more than one prisoner executed by the government each day on average.
Among the remainder were political prisoners—including many Shiite citizens, persecuted in the Sunni-dominated nation—charged in relation to anti-government protests. Some of these charges dated back to the Arab Spring, when unrest spread to Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012 but was quickly crushed by the government.
Salman, colloquially known as MBS, is the son and heir of the elderly King Salman. Though not yet on the throne, he is widely believed to be the true power behind the king and has amassed a formidable collection of state responsibilities since seizing his position in a palace coup in 2017., MBS said the royal family was seeking to"minimize" the use of the death penalty."There are a few areas we can change or lower the sentence from execution to life imprisonment," he said.
Regardless, world leaders have largely remained at his back. President Donald Trump in particular has lauded his"friend" MBS, who he said last month is doing a"fantastic job." Saudi Arabia's deep pockets, huge oil reserves and strategic value against an aggressive Iran prompt many Western leaders to overlook the human rights transgressions of the House of Saud.
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