A man convicted of practicing "witchcraft and sorcery" has been executed in Saudi Arabia.
According to SPA, the Saudi state news agency, Muree bin Ali bin Issa al-Asiri, a man "found in possession of books and talismans" was beheaded in the southern province of Najran.
The BBC reported that the execution was carried out after al-Asiri's sentence was upheld by the Middle Eastern monarchy's highest courts, and that "no details were given of what he was found guilty of beyond the charges of witchcraft and sorcery."
Although Amnesty International stated that the country does not consider it a capital offense, executions on charges of sorcery and witchcraft have occurred in Saudi Arabia in recent years.
Last year, a woman in her 60s was beheaded for practicing sorcery after Saudi religious police said "she had tricked people into thinking she could treat illnesses, charging them $800 per session."
"The charges of 'witchcraft and sorcery' are not defined as crimes in Saudi Arabia and to use them to subject someone to the cruel and extreme penalty of execution is truly appalling," Philip Luther, interim director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Program wrote in a statement condemning that execution.
In 2010, Ali Hossein Sabat, the Lebanese host of a popular fortune-telling program, was arrested, charged and sentenced to death for sorcery while on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, the BBC reported.
Sabat, a Shiite Muslim, was freed by the Saudi Supreme Court following pressure from the Lebanese government and human rights groups.