The executions
Saudi Arabia executed three Ethiopian nationals on 21 April 2026 after convicting them of “participating in smuggling hashish” into the kingdom, the interior ministry announced that day.[1] The official statement records the sentences as discretionary death penalties carried out in the Asir region.[2]
The men
The three men were Kibrom Gebremariam, Tsigabu Hagos and Kidane Angesom, all from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, and they were put to death at the Khamis Mushait detention centre in Asir Province.[3] Kidane Angesom was 32 and had spent nine years in Saudi Arabia, four of them behind bars.[4] His mother, Tsehay Wolay, learned of his execution from his cellmate, and said she never knew what her son had been accused of.[4] Ethiopian prisoners at the facility said they had been convicted on drug charges after being forced to sign documents written in Arabic without interpreters or adequate legal representation.[3]
A wave of cases
Human Rights Watch warned at the time that at least 65 Ethiopian migrants were at imminent risk of execution for drug offences in Saudi Arabia.[1] The organisation said executing foreign migrants for non-violent offences after proceedings that fail basic standards of due process reflects a profound disregard for their rights and lives.[3] Many families are still waiting for the return of the bodies of relatives already executed, while parents of detainees keep appealing for international intervention.[3]