Saudi Arabia Beheads Woman for 'Practicing Witchcraft and Sorcery'

Bringing the number of shariah-law-compliant executions up to a reported 73 this year, a Saudi woman was beheaded Monday after being convicted of the "crime" of practicing sorcery, according to reports.

NDTV reports:

Amina bin Abdulhalim Nassar was executed in the northern province of Jawf for “practising witchcraft and sorcery,” the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

It is not clear how many women have been executed in the desert-kingdom, but another woman was beheaded in October for killing her husband by setting his house on fire.

In September, Amnesty International called on the Muslim kingdom where 140 people were on death row to establish an “immediate moratorium on executions.”

Amnesty said that Saudi Arabia was among the few states that voted against a UN General Assembly resolution last December calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.

According to NDTV, rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all crimes punishable by death under Saudi sharia law. Sorcery and witchcraft likely fall under the apostasy category.

(h/t: WeaselZippers)