Al Jazeera :
Saudi Arabia has executed three soldiers convicted of “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”, with a statement from the kingdom’s defence ministry saying the trio was sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency identified the men as soldiers working in the defence ministry. It did not elaborate on how the men aided the kingdom’s enemies.
The ministry named the three soldiers – Mohammed bin Ahmed, Shaher bin Issa and Hamoud bin Ibrahim – without identifying which “enemy” they were accused of aiding.
The ministry said the soldiers were executed in the military’s Southern Command, based close to the border with Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is leading a six-year campaign against Iran-alligned Houthi rebels.
The executions come as Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), the 35-year-old heir to the throne, tightens his control on power. MbS – the son of King Salman, the kingdom’s ageing monarch – is already viewed as the country’s day-to-day ruler, controlling all the major levers of government, from defence to the economy.
He holds the title of defence minister, while his younger brother Prince Khalid bin Salman is the deputy.
