Deera Square
| ساحة الديرة | |
|---|---|
 Deera Square in 2011 | |
| Location | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Coordinates | 24°37′51″N 46°42′43″E / 24.630884°N 46.711838°ECoordinates: 24°37′51″N 46°42′43″E / 24.630884°N 46.711838°E |
| Other | |
| Known for | Public executions |
Deera Square (Arabic: ساحة الديرة) is a public space in Deera, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a former site of public executions,[1] where those sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia were publicly beheaded.[2] It is known as Al-Safaa Square (Arabic: ساحة الصفاة), Justice Square[3] and derisively as Chop Chop Square by Western visitors.[4]
At unannounced times, Saudi security forces and other officials cleared the area to make way for the execution to take place. After the beheading of the condemned, the head is stitched to the body, which is wrapped up and taken away for the final rites. As with public executions in the U.S. and other capital punishment jurisdictions, it is a crime to record, with photos or videos, the executions, despite the number of attendees witnessing such public events.[5]
Gallery
The square in 2007
See also
References
- ^ al-Omar, Asmaa; Hubbard, Ben (2021-08-13). "For a Crime at 14, He Faces Death in a Case Casting Doubt on Saudi Reforms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
A former site of public executions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital.
- ^ "Saudi Justice?". CBS News. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ "Justice In Saudi Arabia". 11 December 2002. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 30 October 2006.
- ^ Ledoux, Abby (November 13, 2014). "Three months in Riyadh". The Milton Independent. St. Albans, Vermont.
..."Deera Square, " or less colloquially "Chop Chop Square," , a large, brick yard where the public gathers to watch corporal punishments and capital executions.
- ^ Drennan, Justine. "Saudi Arabia's Beheadings Are Public, but It Doesn't Want Them Publicized". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2021-11-04.
External links
Media related to Deera Square at Wikimedia Commons
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- Articles with short description
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