BARBARIC Saudi Arabia carried out 153 executions under its strict Islamic legal code in 2016.

The ultra-conservative kingdom is one of the world's most prolific executioners and murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and abandoning religion are all punishable by death.

2 An executioner beheads a drug dealer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in this file picture Credit: Rex Features

The death toll is slightly down from the year before.

Rights group Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia carried out at least 158 death sentences in 2015, coming third after Iran and Pakistan.

Amnesty's figures do not include secretive China.

Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for "terrorism" offences on a single day in January.

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2 Lebanese human rights activists set up a mock gallows outside the Saudi embassy in Beirut. File picture Credit: Getty Images

They included prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution prompted Iranian protesters to torch Saudi diplomatic missions, leading Riyadh to sever relations.

In December 15 people were to death by the Specialized Criminal Court after what Amnesty International called a "grossly unfair" trial and "a travesty of justice and a serious violation of human rights".

Time and again, Saudi Arabia’s justice system has been proven to be incapable of ensuring fairness and justice,” said Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office.

“The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading in any circumstances but it is even more shocking when people are sentenced to death after blatantly unfair trials.

Last month a woman in Saudi Arabia faced calls for her execution after she was pictured without a hijab.

Malak Al Shehri sparked fury on social media after she went out in public in the conservative capital Riyadh without a full body cloak – called an abaya – or a veil.