On 16 December 2025, Saudi authorities executed Egyptian fisherman Essam Ahmed for drug-related offences. Saudi authorities arrested him in December 2021 on a fishing boat between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Essam Ahmed said he was coerced by a man wielding a gun to transport drugs. In November 2022, the Criminal Court in Tabuk sentenced him to death after a grossly unfair trial for non-violent, drug-related offences. He said he was tortured immediately after his arrest and “confessed” under torture to drug trafficking. He had no lawyer throughout his arrest and investigation period.
