News - Middle East: Saudi authorities executed a young man, Ahmed Ali Al Badr, Tuesday on the background of political charges, bringing the number of martyrs to four from the eastern region within 24 hours.

Media sources confirmed the death of the political prisoner, Al Badr, by cutting off his head, and then the Saudi authorities disposed of his body in an unknown location.

Earlier, Saudi authorities executed three young men from the Shia-populated Qatif region, which critics say are part of a crackdown to silence political dissent.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior alleged in a statement on Monday that the death sentences were carried out against Hassan bin Issa Al Muhanna, Haider bin Hassan Muwais and Muhammad bin Ibrahim Muwais.

The ministry claimed that the Saudi nationals “had joined a foreign-based network in order to carry out acts of terror against the kingdom. They were found guilty of having received training in the use of firearms and making bombs, smuggling men wanted on security charges out of the country, bringing in ammunition and storing them for the purpose of disturbing internal security.”

Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich and predominantly Shia Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the region.

The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown, with regime forces increasing security measures across the province.

Ever since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has ramped up arrests of activists, bloggers, intellectuals, and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.

As a result, Muslim scholars have been executed and women’s rights campaigners have been put behind bars and tortured as freedoms of expression, association, and belief continue to be denied.