RIYADH (Dispatches) -- Saudi Arabia executed five Saudi nationals in the Eastern Province on Saturday after convicting them of terrorism-related offences, the Interior Ministry said, in a case that media reports identified as involving Shia Muslims from the Qatif region, an area that is predominantly Shia.
The ministry said the five men were found guilty of joining a foreign terrorist organization, opening fire on security personnel, facilities and vehicles with firearms and explosives, possessing weapons and live ammunition, and providing support to finance and carry out terrorist operations inside the kingdom. 
It named them as Muhammad bin Munir bin Muhammad al-Zahir, Ali bin Abdulrab Al Hussein Al Sheikh, Hassan bin Zaki bin Muhammad Al Faraj, Reda bin Muhammad bin Ali Al Abu Abdullah, and Ali bin Hassan bin Ahmed Al Rabih.
The executions were carried out after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences and a royal order was issued to enforce them, the ministry said, adding that anyone committing similar acts would face the prescribed punishment.
The official Saudi statement did not disclose the sectarian affiliation of the five men. However, media outlets reported that all five were Shia citizens from Qatif and published the same names. 
The reports characterized them as rights activists and described the executions as part of a crackdown on Shia dissent. The Eastern Province, where Qatif is located, is the center of Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority population.
The case underscores longstanding concerns raised by human rights organizations over Saudi Arabia’s use of broad counterterrorism laws. 
Human Rights Watch has documented that Saudi authorities routinely rely on torture-tainted confessions and deny basic legal rights in terrorism prosecutions, and has warned that the death penalty is being used systematically to eliminate dissent and maintain political control. 
The organization has also highlighted cases of individuals sentenced to death for protests and alleged crimes committed as children, including Shia defendants from the Eastern Province.
The executions came a day after UN experts expressed grave concern over death sentences handed down in cases marred by serious violations of fair trial guarantees, including torture, enforced disappearance, and reliance on coerced confessions.
Amnesty International recorded at least 356 executions in Saudi Arabia in 2025 alone, more than double the 122 carried out in 2024.