TEHRAN – The Islamic Coalition Party has issued a message in condemnation of the “authoritarian” regime in Riyadh for beheading 37 of its citizens.

“The authoritarian Saudi regime once again added a paper to its dark list of crimes by beheading 37 religious and social activists in a mass execution,” the party’s statement read, Fars reported on Monday.

The statement added that the Saudi regime has committed numerous atrocities against humanity, including its creation and support of Takfiri terrorist groups such as Daesh (ISIL), brutal killing of the innocent Yemeni people and fomenting sedition in Syria, Iraq and other areas.

As crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners, human rights activists and intellectuals widens in the kingdom, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry announced a week ago that it had executed 37 people in a single day “in connection with terrorism crimes.”
 
Human rights groups state that at least 33 out of the 37 executed individuals were from Saudi Arabia’s persecuted Shia minority, according to the Middle East Eye.

Documents obtained by the CNN showed that many of the executed individuals had “repeatedly” told the Saudi court that, in a bid to save their lives, they had been forced to accept confessions their torturers had written for them.

Analysts say Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for such acts. The mass execution followed the killing and dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
 
MH/PA