BBC News reports: Amnesty International has expressed alarm at reports that the authorities in Saudi Arabia are planning to execute dozens of people in a single day.

The newspaper Okaz said 55 people were awaiting execution for “terrorist crimes”, while a now-deleted report by al-Riyadh said 52 would die soon.

They are thought to include Shia who took part in anti-government protests.

Amnesty said that given the spike in executions this year, it had no option but to take the reports very seriously.

The group believes at least 151 people have been put to death in Saudi Arabia so far this year – the highest recorded figure since 1995. [Continue reading…]