Witnessing Executions in Saudi Arabia: Is the Executioner Happy?

• In Event: Comparative Perspectives on the Death Penalty: An Agenda for the Next Generation of Capital Punishment Research

Abstract

In 1983, two men beat me nearly to death with a three-pound shop hammer, ran over my feet with my own vehicle, and left me in the thin snow of the Texas badlands – to die. Seven years after the savage assault, and a supposedly complete recovery, I found myself on the sprawling parking lot of Riyadh’s Central Mosque – an open space nicknamed “Chop Chop Square” by the large expatriate community of which I was a member at the time. Its real name is “Deera,” and there, under a desert sun on a Friday afternoon I came to understand how incomplete my supposed recovery had been and how much my concept of justice had changed. The day I watched Saeed Al Sayaf lop three heads began with coffee, a knock on the door, a friend with a grin, and a chummy offer of unusual proportions – “Would you like to see a beheading today?” Even then, my answer surprised me. These decades later, my memory of the Royal Executioner’s job remains queerly clear – like a frequent, unsettling dream. In this presentation, I will share that day.

Author

• Jesse Doiron, Lamar University