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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Saudi beheads citizen for murder

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40 executions in kingdom so far this year.

Saudi authorities beheaded on Monday one of its citizens after he was convicted of shooting dead 2 fellow Saudis, the interior ministry announced in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

Musfer Bin Atallah Al Jaeed shot dead Ahmad Bin Mayud Al Sawat and Fares Bin Masud Al Sawat after a dispute, the ministry said.

Al Jaeed was beheaded in the the western province of Taef.

His beheading brings to 40 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79.

The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Sharia law.

Source: Agence France-Presse, June 25, 2012
Location: Saudi Arabia
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