Beheaded convict put on public display in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabian authority decapitated and then publicly displayed the crucified dead body of a convicted killer drawing fierce criticism from Amnesty International. Saudi ministry stressed that the act was intended only to deter future crimes.

On Friday, Saudi authorities beheaded a man named Ahmed Al-Shamlani Al-Anzi and then publicly displayed the crucified dead body in Riyadh, according to a news report by CNN. A statement issued by the Saudi Interior ministry reportedly said Al-Anzi was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and brutally killing of an 11-year-old boy and for the killing of the boy’s father. The statement said Al-Anzi, a shop owner, molested the boy and then choked him to death with a rope. When the boy’s father came looking for his son, Al-Anzi stabbed him repeatedly until he died. After killing the boy and his father he hid the dead bodies in his shop. Afterwards police came to arrest him, but he reportedly threatened them with a knife, the statement added. The report says Al-Anzi had previously been convicted of sodomy and keeping pornographic films. Saudi Ministry has asserted that the "crucifixion" or public display of convict’s dead body was only intended to warn those who involved in the similar crimes, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Although the word "crucifixion" has been used to describe the public display of Al-Anzi’s body, the act has nothing to do with Christianity. Lamri Chirouf, who researches Saudi Arabian issues for Amnesty, has explained that the dead bodies are not displayed on crosses and the word has no connection to the crucifixion of Jesus. Chirouf reportedly said Saudi officials use crucifixions as a means to frighten people from committing such a crime. He also said that the convicted people are beheaded first and then their heads are sewn back on their bodies before the corpses are mounted on a pole or tree. Amnesty International has issued a statement condemning the brutal punishment. In a statement Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of this London based rights group said: “It is horrific that beheading and crucifixions still happen.” Sahraoui also said: “King Abdullah should show true leadership and commute all death sentences if Saudi Arabia is to have any role to play as a global leader or member of the G20.” Amnesty International reportedly believes that the "trial proceedings" in Saudi Arabia "fall far below international fair-trial standards." The group said:

“Convictions are often made on the basis of ‘confessions’ obtained under duress, including torture or other ill-treatment during incommunicado detention. Those who are sentenced to death are often not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them or of the date of execution until the morning when they are taken out and beheaded.”

The rights group has also estimated that there were 102 executions in Saudi Arabia in 2008 and is aware of 136 people believed to be awaiting execution most of whom are “migrant workers and other foreign nationals, in particular from Asia and Africa." According to a count by Associated Press, Friday’s execution brought the number to 35 beheading in 2009 in this country. Chirouf said: "nobody knows how many people are on death row" in Saudi Arabia.