A Saudi prince may be executed for the murder of a fellow Saudi, Arab News reported on Sunday.
Although the prince and his victim's names have not been revealed, a senior member of the family and government, Crown Prince Salman, had "cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of murdering a Saudi citizen," Reuters reported.
In a message about the rare move to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Prince Salman said, "Sharia (Islamic law) shall be applied to all without exception", the English-language daily Arab News reported.
Prince Salman's message was declared after the victim's father made a statement that he wasn't ready to pardon the killer and was not happy with the amount being offered as blood money. Authorities are known to encourage families of murder victims to accept blood money instead of insisting on execution.
"There is no difference between big and small, rich and poor ... Nobody is allowed to interfere with the judiciary's decision," Prince Salman told Arab News. "This is the tradition of this state. We are committed to following the sharia."
Reuters was unable to reach an Interior Ministry spokesman for comment. The Arab News is part of a media group chaired by a son of Crown Prince Salman, who is also deputy prime minister and minister of defense.
The kingdom's high number of executions, inconsistencies in the application of the law, and its use of public beheading to carry out death sentences has drawn criticism from the West, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia executed at least 47 people as of May 2013, according to Amnesty International's website, compared to 82 in all of 2011 and a similar number in 2012.
Members of the ruling family are only rarely known to be executed. Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in 1975 was one of the most prominent cases, according to Reuters.
The family is estimated to number several thousand. While members receive monthly stipends, and the most senior princes command great wealth and political power, only a few in the family hold nationally important government posts, Reuters reported.
