ISIS: executions now take place in "Saudi style"

(To Giampiero Venturi)
07/07/16

Images coming from Raqqa speak clearly: public executions in Islamic State-controlled territories now take place in the Saudi way. In fact, the chilling rite of decapitation for which it is sadly known, Caliphate is no longer carried out only with the knife, but with the long scimitar, a ritual in vogue in Arabia.

In Riyadh, the death penalty is foreseen for a long series of crimes: murder, rape, apostasy, drug trafficking, homosexuality, sodomy, adultery, robbery, smuggling, witchcraft practices ... just to name a few. Although stoning and hanging are planned, execution is almost always due to a public beheading by means of a curved sword.

The Islamic State apparently is adjusting. Especially the death sentences for apostasy, very frequent between Raqqa and Mosul, are increasingly carried out with this inhuman ritual.

Despite Riad's ongoing attempt to appear as a victim of Islamist terrorist fury, the reflections on the relationship between Saudi and ISIS pass from these terrifying details.

(photo: Al Alam)