RIYADH: Saudi Arabia executed a convicted Pakistani heroin smuggler Tuesday, bringing the number of people put to death this year to 138. Nimat Allah Mola Baksh had been found guilty of smuggling the drugs inside his body, the interior ministry said in a statement. He was put to death in the kingdom’s east. Most Saudi executions are carried out by beheading with a sword, in what the ministry says is a deterrent. Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of the trials. They also say the death penalty should not be applied in drug cases. According to AFP tallies, Baksh was the 138th Saudi or foreigner put to death by the kingdom this year, compared with 87 in 2014. London-based Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia had the world’s third-highest number of executions last year, far behind China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq and the United States.



Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2015.