Saudi advertises for swordsmen as execution rate soars

Saudi Arabia advertised vacancies for eight executioners Tuesday after beheading nearly as many people since the start of the year as it did in the whole of 2014. The civil service ministry said that no qualifications were necessary and that applicants would be exempted from the usual entrance exams. Most executions are carried out by beheading, but a few are carried out by firing squad, stoning or crucifixion. All are carried out in public and video footage sometimes appears on the Internet despite a ban on filming.

Religious functionaries.

A euphemistic ad searching for executioners in Saudi Arabia

In January, gruesome footage was posted of a Burmese woman protesting her innocence before being beheaded by a swordsman on a public street in the Muslim holy city of Mecca. The vacancies were advertised on the ministry’s website in the “religious jobs” section. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 87 people, according to an AFP tally, ranking it third in the world for use of the death penalty.

Middle East Saudi Arabia