Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, the Prince from Saudi Arabia who was executed for murder, spent his last hours with his family and saying goodbye to his loved ones. The Prince’s family still tried to reach an agreement with the victim’s father multiple times throughout the day to accept blood money and forgive him, but their attempts failed, according to Saudi news site Al Marsad. The execution took place after the Asr players at 4.13pm on 17 October.
He had been sentenced to death for the killing of his friend in November 2014, after he pleaded guilty at the trial. The incident occurred in December 2012 following a dispute at a camp on the edge of Riyadh and another person was also injured.
When Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir realised his friend had been the victim, he informed the police. Arab News quoted the victim’s uncle Abdul Rahman al-Falaj, as saying that the sentence reflected the Kingdom’s “fair justice system”. Under Saudi Arabia’s strict legal code murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death. According to Amnesty International there were over 158 death sentences carried out in Saudi Arabia in 2015.
The last time a prominent member of the Saudi Arabian royal family was executed was in 1975. Faisal bin Musaid al-Saud was a nephew of King Al Faisal, who he assassinated. In 1977 Princess Mishael, a granddaughter of a brother of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, was executed after she married a man not selected by the family. They were accused of adultery and Princess Mishael was shot as her husband, Khalid Mahallal, was forced to watch. He was then beheaded.
The Royal Family of Saudi Arabia is said to number in the thousands. Members receive monthly stipends and some hold important government posts.
“The greatest thing is that the citizen sees the law applied to everyone, and that there are not big people and other small people,” Abdul-Rahman al-Lahim, a prominent Saudi lawyer, wrote on Twitter.
One video shows King Salman telling officials that “any citizen can sue the royal family and seek justice.” The video has gone viral in the kingdom.
Some on social media described the execution as “evidence of the justice which sharia law affirms,” referring to the conservative Islamic codes that govern Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations. Others said the ruling demonstrated “the king’s integrity in treating all citizens equally” and that “nobody is above the law.”
They have acted like a circus clowns.