01/02/2016, 00.00
SAUDI ARABIA – IRAN
Send to a friend

Riyadh executes 47 "terrorists", including Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr

These are the first executions of the new year. Last year more than 150 people were executed. Sheikh al-Nimr had criticised the marginalisation of the Shia community in the predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia. Iran has responded with threats.

Riyadh (AsiaNews) – Saudi Arabia began the New Year by executing on Saturday 47 people convicted on terrorism charges, including prominent anti-Saudi regime Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the Interior Ministry said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Right after the executions, Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Al-Sheikh appeared on television to describe them as just.

Those executed include 45 Saudis, plus a Chadian and an Egyptian. The most prominent among them was Nimr al-Nimr, an early supporter of the short-lived and violently suppressed Arab Spring that erupted in Saudi Arabia’s eastern region.

The region is predominantly Shia, and Shias have always complained of political and economic marginalisation.

Al-Nimr was arrested two years ago, and sentenced to death last October charged with seeking "foreign meddling" in the kingdom, "disobeying" its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces.

His supporters argue that he had always advocated only peaceful demonstrations.

Shia-led Iran – the main regional rival of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia – previously warned that executing Sheikh al-Nimr would "cost Saudi Arabia dearly".

The executions announced today are the first of the year. Saudi Arabia carried out more than 150 executions last year.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Jordanian man executed for drug trafficking based on forced confession
13/03/2023 14:20
Death penalty in decline in 2018, but China always in first place
10/04/2019 13:15
Three Indonesian Catholics executed by firing squad
21/09/2006
UN to Saudi Arabia: An end to the execution of minors
31/01/2006
Executions doubled under 'reformist' bin Salman
01/02/2023 18:48


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”