Saudi Arabia's square, once soaked in blood, is now bustling with fountains and cafes; how has the scene changed?

News Topical, Digital Desk : The famous Al-Adl Square in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, once the site of beheadings of criminals after Friday prayers, and where blood flowed, is now home to children playing under the shade of palm trees.

Saudi Arabia has carried out these executions behind closed doors over the past decade in an attempt to shed its brutal image.

This square, once known to foreigners as "Chop Chop Square," now has flowing fountains and bustling cafes. This year, Saudi Arabia broke its previous record, executing 340 people, but now it's not openly executed, but behind prison walls.

The executions were carried out every Friday after the prayers.

Executions were previously carried out every week after Friday prayers at Al-Adl Square, next to the religious police headquarters. Shopkeepers and locals still recall the scenes of large crowds. Rafiq, a shopkeeper, says the police would set up barricades and people would gather to watch the beheadings.

He says, "It was scary, but gradually I got used to it. While being beheaded, people would close their eyes and shout 'Allahu Akbar'."

The scars still remain

The square still has large drains topped with iron grills to facilitate cleaning after executions. Similar scenes were seen in the squares outside every major mosque across the country. Public executions were discontinued in late 2013 without explanation.

Dua Dhaini, a researcher at the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, says that after that, executions started taking place inside prisons.

The government approved firing squads in 2013, but the method of execution is currently unclear. Officials did not provide any answers.

Trying to adapt to the ways of the world

Shifting executions to prisons is a key part of Saudi Arabia's transformation, which seeks to attract foreign tourists and investors to reduce its dependence on oil.

The religious police are no longer as strict as before, women move around without the veil or hijab, and alcohol restrictions have been relaxed for high-income non-Muslims.

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