RIYADH – Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed a member of the royal family for having committed murder, in a rare case involving one of the thousands of members of the House of Saud.
According to the details, Saudi prince Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir has been executed in the capital Riyadh after a court found him guilty of killing a friend.
Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir had pleaded guilty to shooting Adel al-Mohaimeed in 2012 after a row, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
“The Government is keen to keep order, stabilise security and bring about justice through implementing the rules prescribed by Allah,” the ministry statement added.
The ministry did not reveal how the prince was killed, but most people executed in the kingdom are beheaded with a sword.
Kabir was the 134th local or foreigner put to death this year, according to an AFP tally of ministry statements.
The sentence reflected the kingdom’s “fair justice system,” Arab News quoted the victim’s uncle Abdul Rahman al-Falaj as saying.
Members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family are only rarely known to have been executed. One of the most prominent cases was Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in 1975.
The family is estimated to number several thousand who receive monthly stipends, and the most senior prince commands great wealth and political power.
Despite international push, Saudi Arabia has a stringent rule of beheading the accused involved in murder.
