Every country has its own justice and its own punishment. France has a barbarous instrument called the guillotine. Saudi Arabia executes the condemned with the traditional sabre. Tbe murderer, brought in an ambulance, is left alone for half-an-hour before the attentive crowd.He put up no resistance when he was made to kneel and prepared for executionHolding his sabre, the executioner approaches the have been bound by soldiers, and whose neckIt was on a Friday, holy to the Muslims that Mohammed, 25, had his neck severed by the executioner's razor-sharp weapon. Mohammed's crime: he had killed the man who, after having promised the young man his daughter, had gone back on his word, and then Mohammed murdered the girl.The executioner has just struck: One blow, and the blood gushes, spreading profusely around the bodyThus, as the young man could not bear the loss of face that follows a broken engagement, he lost his life.The victim is executed and dies without a cryThe criminal's ordeal was witnessed by 6,000 people-all men-who gathered at a parking lot which had been meticulously swept as if for a religious rite.The executioner steps back to consider his work. Justice is done, and, with a piece of cloth, he wipes his blood-stained sabreKaj Lauridsen, a Danish professor who took these extraordinary photographs of the execution, hid himself on the ninth floor of a hotel, his camera concealed in a shopping bag. If he had been discovered, he would have died the same way as Mohammed did.The executioner surveys the soldiers who untie the cords which bound the wrists and ankles of the victimThe ceremony was carried out with practised precision: not so long ago a Saudi princess had fallen to the country's harsh punishment codes.All that remains are Mohammed's slippers, which he wore until the final moment: A Muslim must not die in bare feetMohammed faced his end quietly, or perhaps he had been prudently drugged. When it was all over, the spectators applauded a satisfying show.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 25, 2013 12:07 IST--- ENDS ---
