A woman was beheaded in Saudi Arabia for practicing witchcraft and sorcery , the kingdom 's Interior Ministry said , prompting Amnesty International to call for a halt in executions there . Amina bint Abdel Halim Nassar was executed Monday for having `` committed the practice of witchcraft and sorcery , '' according to an Interior Ministry statement . Nassar was investigated before her arrest and was `` convicted of what she was accused of based on the law , '' the statement said . Her beheading took place in the Qariyat province of the region of Al-Jawf , the ministry said . In a statement issued late Monday , the human rights group called the execution `` deeply shocking '' and said it `` highlights the urgent need for a halt in executions in Saudi Arabia . '' `` While we do n't know the details of the acts which the authorities accused Amina of committing , the charge of sorcery has often been used in Saudi Arabia to punish people , generally after unfair trials , for exercising their right to freedom of speech or religion , '' said Philip Luther , Amnesty International 's interim director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme . Saudi Arabia , an absolute monarchy , practices a puritanical version of Islam and is governed by Shariah , or Islamic law . In the deeply conservative kingdom , sorcery , witchcraft and blasphemy are all offenses that can be punishable by death . The London-based Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat quoted a source in the country 's religious police who said authorities searched Nassar 's home and found books on sorcery , a number of talismans and glass bottles filled with liquids supposedly used for the purposes of magic . The source told the paper Nassar was selling spells and bottles of the liquid potions for about $ 400 dollars each . CNN could not reach Saudi Arabia 's religious police or Justice Ministry for comment . Amnesty says Nassar 's execution is `` the second of its kind in recent months . In September , a Sudanese national was beheaded in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina after being convicted on 'sorcery ' charges . '' The human rights group said the number of executions in Saudi Arabia has almost tripled in 2011 . `` So far at least 79 people -- including five women -- have been executed there , compared to at least 27 in 2010 , '' the Amnesty statement said . This is not the first sorcery case in Saudi Arabia to spark outrage from human rights groups . In 2008 , Lebanese TV host Ali Hussain Sibat was arrested on charges of sorcery while in Saudi Arabia on a religious pilgrimage . In 2009 , he was found guilty and sentenced to death . While Sibat has not been executed , he remains in prison . Saudi Arabia 's judicial system also made headlines this month for the sentence imposed on Australian national Mansor Almaribe , who was convicted of blasphemy while performing the Hajj in the kingdom , and sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in prison . The Australian government is pleading Almaribe 's case .
Amnesty International says authorities found sorcery books and potions in her home . Abdel Halim Nassar Abdel Halim Nassar was convicted of practicing witchcraft . Analyst says the charge is used against people who exercise free speech or religion . At least 79 people have been executed in kingdom recent months , Newspaper says .