A senior Iranian Judiciary official says Saudi authorities must be held accountable for the latest execution of dozens of prisoners in a single day, adding the kingdom must make clarifications on the charges leveled against those put to death.
Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, said Monday that the executions of 81 men, 41 of whom were Shia Muslims, can be examined from different perspectives.
He raised questions about the judicial process under which the people were tried and sentenced to death, noting that the death penalty might have been carried out actually because of the political opposition and dissent of the defendants.
Gharibabadi went on to denounce the double standards and silence of international human rights organizations vis-à-vis the recent executions in Saudi Arabia.
While the institutions tend to kick up a fuss about a court ruling passed in Iran, they have questionably kept mum in the face of the execution of 81 people, the senior Iranian human rights official said.
“The double standards of human rights organizations and international bodies are very destructive. The question is: Are the so-called advocates of human rights sincere in their claims or not?” he said.
State news agency Saudi Press Agency said on Saturday that the authorities had executed 81 people in one day on a variety of offences.
Of the 81 people, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.
The 2022 executions exceeded the total number of Saudi Arabia’s punishments by death throughout last year.