An American citizen was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The American citizen who was sentenced to death was accused of torturing and then killing his Egyptian-born father. Along with this, the government of Saudi Arabia has given death sentence to 19 foreign nationals this year. The US citizen sentenced to death has been identified as Bishoy Sharif Naji Nasif.

Not much information has been given in the media about Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef, nor has it been told how Naji Naseef was killed. Since people are usually given death sentence by beheading in Saudi Arabia, it is believed that similar punishment would have been meted out in this case as well. Nasif was accused of first beating his father and then strangulating him to death. After the murder, Nasif mutilated the body. The accused was addicted to drugs and even when an attempt was made to arrest him, he fatally attacked another person.

According to data from the human rights organization Amnesty International, in the year 2022, after China and Iran, the maximum number of people were sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. There is also constant criticism of the Saudi Arabian government regarding this. Under its Vision 2030, the Saudi Arabian government is working towards social and economic reforms by erasing its radical image, but the image of Saudi Arabia is being tarnished due to such a large number of people being sentenced to death.

According to media reports, more than 1000 people have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia since Saudi King Mohammed bin Salman assumed power in 2015. This year itself, 91 people have been given death sentence so far. In addition, 19 citizens of the US, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, Yemen and the Philippines have also been executed in Saudi Arabia this year. Last year, 147 people were sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. Whereas in 2021 this figure was 69.