Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for minors and floggings

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2019 file photo, Saudi Arabia's King Salman attends the official welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Salman ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by individuals when they were minors, according to a statement Sunday, April 26, 20202, by a top official. The decision comes on the heels of another which orders judges to end the practice of flogging and to issue in its place jail time, fines or community service, bringing to a close one of the kingdom’s most controversial forms of public punishment. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

FILE - In this Dec, 16, 2015 file photo, Ensaf Haidar, wife of the jailed Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, shows a portrait of her husband as he is awarded the Sakharov Prize, in Strasbourg, France. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by individuals when they were minors, according to a statement Sunday, April 26, 2020, by a top official. The decision comes on the heels of another which orders judges to end the practice of flogging. Five years ago, the public flogging of Badawi 50 times before hundreds of spectators in the metropolitan city of Jiddah drew outrage and condemnation from around the world. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz, File)