Saudis crucify murderer after execution

The Saudi government beheaded a double murderer Friday and then crucified his headless body in a Riyadh square, the government and rights groups said.

Ahmed al-Anzi was put to death for the brutal slaying of a father and his young son in Riyadh earlier this year, as well as for earlier offenses involving homosexual activity and possession of lewd materials, according to a statement on the official SPA news agency. Amnesty International condemned the execution and crucifixion in a statement, noting that capital offense trials in Saudi Arabia, where Islamic sharia law governs crimes, usually take place behind closed doors, with the accused receiving weak legal support. “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,” it said. “It is horrific that beheading and crucifixions still happen,” Amnesty official Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in the statement.

“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,” Sahraoui said. Virtually all executions in the conservative Islamic kingdom are carried out by beheading, but crucifixion of the bodies is uncommon.

 - AFP