Saudi Arabia executes five Ethiopians for hashish smuggling

Saudi Arabia has executed five Ethiopian nationals convicted of drug smuggling, bringing the kingdom’s execution toll this year to 205, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

The five were convicted of participating in smuggling hashish into the kingdom, the ministry said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.

They were executed in Asir, a province in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The latest executions are the third such announcement involving Ethiopian nationals in recent months.

Five Ethiopians were executed on the same day in June, while another five were put to death in July.

With the latest executions, 32 Ethiopian nationals have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, making them the largest foreign national group among those executed.

Human Rights Watch warned in July that at least 79 Ethiopians faced an imminent risk of execution over similar drug-related charges.

Saudi Arabia recorded 356 executions last year, the highest annual figure in the kingdom’s history.

Thousands of Ethiopians work in low-skilled jobs in Saudi Arabia, with many travelling to the oil-rich kingdom through the perilous Eastern Route from the Horn of Africa via Yemen.

AFP