Ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House, CNN investigated the Saudi regime’s use of the death penalty in 2025. Through interviews with family members, court documents and execution statistics, reporter Muhammad Darwish described a system that targets vulnerable foreign workers, resulting in record numbers of convictions and executions for alleged drug crimes. At the time of writing, the regime has executed at least 322 people this year.
The Saudi authorities have also restarted executions of child defendants this year, so far exclusively for protest-related offences – Jalal al-Labbad and Abdullah al-Derazi were both executed for allegedly joining demonstrations as teenagers. The article focused on another child defendant at imminent risk of execution, Hassan Zaki al-Faraj.
“It is hard to overstate how cruel and how cynical this regime is. It’s a system of lies and brutality,” Reprieve’s Jeed Basyouni told CNN. “The lies start at the top, with Mohammed bin Salman telling journalists he plans to reduce the use of capital punishment.” You can read the full article here.