Who Is Prince Turki Bin Saud Al-Kabir? Saudi Arabia Executes Royal Family Member Over Murder Conviction

Saudi Arabia executed a member of the royal family for murder after he was convicted of fatally shooting a Saudi man during a brawl. Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital city of Riyadh on Tuesday.

According to local reports, Prince al-Kabir was found guilty three years ago by a Saudi court for killing Adel al-Mahemid. Another person was injured in an exchange of gunfire following the group fight in al-Thumama region in the outskirts of Riyadh.

"The Interior Ministry, in announcing this, affirms to all that the Kingdom's government is determined to establish security, bring about justice and implement God's law against all those who attack the innocent," the interior ministry said in a statement.

While most death penalties in Saudi Arabia are carried out by beheading in a public square, the method used in Prince al-Kabir's execution has not been revealed.

The country has a strict Islamic law under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death. Amnesty International said in a report that the kingdom carried out at least 158 death sentences in 2015.

The execution involving Prince al-Kabir is the first such case since Prince Faisal bin Musaid was beheaded in Riyadh in 1975 for assassinating King Faisal.

A member of the royal family told the New York Times that Prince al-Kabir was from one of the most prominent branches of the royal family after that of the direct descendants of King Abdulaziz, who founded the modern Saudi state in 1932.

No additional biographical information about Prince al-Kabir was immediately available.