Prince Turki bin Saud bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabeer was put to death in the capital, Riyadh, according to a report by the Saudi state news service. While the report did not detail the method used, most death penalties in Saudi Arabia are carried out by beheading in public.
Many in social media networks, with some Saudis saying they never imagined such a thing would happen in a justice system, which criticized by human rights groups for what they consider harsh and arbitrary punishments against oponent.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies. The thousands of members of the royal family enjoy perks not available to the rest of the country’s 20 million citizens.
Tuesday’s execution was the first time that a member of the royal family had been put to death for murder by the state since 1975, when Prince Faisal bin Musaid was beheaded in Riyadh for assassinating King Faisal.
A couple of years later, a princess and her husband were accused of adultery and executed after the princess refused to marry a man selected by the family. The princess, Mishael, was shot as her husband, Khalid Muhallal, watched. He was then beheaded, according to a New York Times obituary of her grandfather, Prince Mohammed Ibn Abdel-Aziz.
It was unclear how many people watched the execution of Prince Turki on Tuesday or what their immediate reaction was.
The state news media report did not release his age or provide any other biographical information.
Another member of the royal family, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, said by telephone from Riyadh that Prince Turki was from one of the most prominent branches of the royal family after that of the direct descendants of King Abdulaziz, who founded the modern Saudi state in 1932.
According to Saudi reports, Prince Turki shot a man during “a group fight” that occurred a few years ago.
Adam Coogle, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who tracks Saudi Arabia, said the execution of the prince did not affect his organization’s criticisms of the country.
The prince is the 134th person to be put to death this year, according to a tally compiled by the AFP news agency.
The victim's family refused offers of "blood money" by which they would receive financial compensation in return for not demanding the death sentence, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network reported.
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