Authorities in Saudi Arabia today announced the execution of a man for “terrorism”, despite calls from human rights NGOs who recalled that the man had been convicted of offences committed when he was a minor.

As of early 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 300 people, according to a French News Agency count based on official statements. In 2024, the kingdom carried out 338 executions, a record that may be surpassed this year.

“The death penalty was carried out against Abdullah al-Derazi, a Saudi national, in the eastern province,” the official SPA news agency reported today.

Derazi was convicted of terrorism along with eight other people for their participation in rare anti-government protests in 2011, according to the NGO Amnesty International.

“His family learned the news on social media. They did not say goodbye to him and received no official information from the authorities,” said Dwaa Daini, a researcher for the Berlin-based Euro-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR).

“Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court secretly upheld the death sentences of two youths who were minors at the time of the events for which they are accused, without informing their families or lawyers,” Amnesty reported in 2023 about Derazi and Jalal al-Labad, who were executed in August for similar charges.

Saudi Arabia has carried out 300 executions since the beginning of the year, including 33 for terrorism and 202 for drug-related cases.