The gruesome footage shows Saudi authorities publicly beheading the
woman in the holy city of Mecca earlier this week. The execution is the
tenth to be carried out in country in the last two weeks; setting 2015
up to be even more bloody than last year, when 87 people were punitively
killed by the state.
The video shows the woman, a Burmese resident named as Lalia Bint
Abdul Muttablib Basim, screaming while being dragged along the street.
Four police officers then hold the woman down before a sword-wielding
man slices her head then taking three blows to complete the act. The
exceutioner is then found doing his usual habit in every execution: busy
wiping his sword to prevent the rusting process of the blade.
Then the ambulance comes with a loud speaker that shouts out “this is
the interior ministry” continuing verses from the Quran: “The
punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and
strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered or
crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite
sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them
in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous
chastisement, Except those who repent before you have them in your
power; so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
In the chilling recording, Basim, who was found guilty in a Saudi
Sharia court of sexually abusing and murdering her seven-year-old
step-daughter and is heard protesting her innocence until the very end.
Saudi Arabia bases its legal system on Sharia and when it comes to
the death penalty it can be given for armed robbery, drug-related
offences, sorcery, adultery, murder, rape and apostasy from Islam.
Beheading is widely seen in the country as the most humane means of
executing but death by stoning, crucifixion, and death by firing squad
is also carried out in the holiest city in Islam.
Basim’s execution comes as the Saudi authorities are already under
the spotlight for the public flogging of Raif Badawi, a blogger and
political activist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a total
of 1,000 lashings for insulting religious authorities.
Saudi Arabia carried out last year, nearly 87 executions, up from
nine cases in 2013. Several international human rights organizations
demanded that Saudi Arabia stop the implementation of those provisions
and replace them with other forms of punishment.
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