Local outlet Okayz Daily reports that the prince did have a medical check to ensure he was in good enough health to endure the lashes before they were carried out.
Earlier this month, Riyadh executed Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir for fatally shooting a man named Adel al-Mahemid during a fight. Kabir was the first member of the royal family to be executed in more than four decades — since Prince Faisal bin Musaid was beheaded for assassinating King Faisal in 1975.
Kabir was the 134th person to be executed in Saudi Arabia in 2016 — where murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, apostasy and rape can all carry the death penalty under Islamic law. Typically, the executions are carried out by beheading in a public square.
According to figures from Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has the third highest rate of executions after Iran and Pakistan — though China is not included on the list as their execution data is kept secret. It is believed that if they were included they would top the list.
In August, a 28-year-old Saudi man was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for tweeting that he is an atheist. Under a law introduced under King Abdullah in 2014, atheism is defined as “terrorism.”
