Editing Decapitation (section)

==== Saudi Arabia ====
{{See also|Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia}}
Saudi Arabia has a criminal justice system based on [[Shari'ah]] law reflecting a particular state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam. Crimes such as rape, murder, apostasy, and sorcery<ref name="BBCexecutioner2">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |title=Saudi executioner tells all |date=5 June 2003 |access-date=11 July 2011 |work=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401233508/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> are punishable by beheading.<ref name="saudibehead2">{{cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-177028385/sword-of-justice-beheadings-rise-in-saudi-arabia |title=Sword of Justice? Beheadings Rise in Saudi Arabia |author-last=Weinberg |author-first=Jon |date=Winter 2008 |publisher=[[Harvard International Review]] |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=20 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320053529/https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-177028385/sword-of-justice-beheadings-rise-in-saudi-arabia }}</ref> It is usually carried out [[Public execution|publicly]] by beheading with a sword.

A public beheading will typically take place around 9am. The convicted person is walked into the square and kneels in front of the executioner. The executioner uses a sword to remove the condemned person's head from his or her body at the neck with a single strike.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde23%2f004%2f1993&language=en |title=Saudi Arabia: An upsurge in public executions |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=2 August 2020 |archive-date=1 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501211651/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde23%2F004%2F1993&language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> After the convicted person is pronounced dead, a police official announces the crimes committed by the beheaded alleged criminal and the process is complete. The official might announce the same before the actual execution. This is the most common method of execution in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/justice-sword-saudi-arabias-embrace-death-penalty-780819 |title=Justice by the Sword: Saudi Arabia's Embrace of the Death Penalty |date=11 September 2012 |work=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=5 April 2014 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407121151/http://www.ibtimes.com/justice-sword-saudi-arabias-embrace-death-penalty-780819 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[Amnesty International]], at least 79 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2013.<ref name="AIExecutions2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/act500012014en.pdf |title=Death Sentences and Executions 2013 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |year=2014 |access-date=19 September 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304190649/http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/act500012014en.pdf }}</ref> Foreigners are not exempt, accounting for "almost half" of executions in 2013.<ref name="AIExecutions2013"/>

In 2015 [[Ashraf Fayadh]] (born 1980), a Saudi Arabian poet, was sentenced to be beheaded, but his sentence was later reduced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes, for [[apostasy]].