On Saturday, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in the largest mass application of capital punishment in the country since 2019. This represents another worrying increase in the trend of using the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where 67 people were executed in 2021.

As a matter of principle, the European Union is strongly opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. The European Union will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it.

The EU remains concerned about the continued use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia and will continue to raise its position with Saudi interlocutors, advocating for a complete de facto moratorium, as a first step towards a formal and full abolition of the death penalty.