Saudi Arabia executes a Somali man for smuggling hashish in Najran
Mohamed Nur Hussein Jaal, a Somali national, was executed in Najran on 16 February 2025 after the interior ministry said he smuggled hashish into the kingdom. His family told Somali media he was denied a fair trial.
🇸🇦 Najran region, Saudi Arabia
- Deaths
- 1
Saudi Arabia executed Mohamed Nur Hussein Jaal, a Somali national, in the Najran region on 16 February
2025.[1] The interior ministry said he had smuggled hashish into the kingdom, was convicted after
investigation and appeal, and was put to death once the Supreme Court upheld the sentence and a royal
order authorised it.[1]
Family protest
Reporting on the ministry announcement said Hussein Jaal was beheaded in Najran after a specialised
court sentenced him to death for the smuggling charge.[2] His family told SMS Somalia TV that the
execution was unjust, that he lacked legal representation, and that they had little chance to
appeal.[2] Saudi authorities said the penalty reinforced their stance against drug trafficking.[2]
Context
Amnesty International, citing the same February ministry notice, recorded the Najran execution among
a sharp rise in drug-related death penalties in early 2025.[3] The opened sources do not say how
much hashish was involved.[1][2]
Sources
- «وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ…» نجران تشهد تنفيذ حكم القتل تعزيرًا في «مهرب حشيش» صومالي. Shafaq Electronic Newspaper, 16 February 2025. In Arabic.
- Saudi Arabia executes Somali man as family decries unjust trial. Hiiraan Online, 17 February 2025. Archived copy.
- Saudi Arabia: Families fear imminent execution of loved ones amid surge in drug-related executions. Amnesty International, 24 April 2025. Archived copy.
Open questions the AI reported
- The ministry statement republished in Saudi media names the offence as hashish smuggling but gives no quantity seized.
- Hiiraan Online reports the same announcement also carried out a Saudi murder convict; the opened ministry text used here covers only Hussein Jaal's hashish case.