Saudi Arabia executes 47 in one day

However, the 56-year-old’s brother has called for a “peaceful” response to the news of his execution. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

But the list of those killed does not include Sheikh Nimr’s nephew, Ali al-Nimr, who was 17 when he was arrested following the protests.

An Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq has condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent opposition Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr and called on Baghdad to reconsider the re-opening of the Saudi embassy. Sheikh Abdul-Amir Kabalan, deputy head of the influential Supreme Shi’ite Islamic Council, the main religious body for Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shi’ites said, “This is a crime at a human level and will have repercussions in the coming days”.

In Iraq, there was an outpouring of anger from Shiite leaders and politicians, with the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr calling on Shiites in Iraq and around the region to take to the streets to protest the execution. The death penalty also applies to adultery, apostasy and witchcraft, although it is seldom carried out in such cases.

Both were convicted on charges related to anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, where the Shiite minority is centered.

All but two – an Egyptian and a Chadian- were Saudi nationals.

“There are now real concerns that those protesters sentenced to death as children could be next in line to face the swordsman’s blade”.

The kingdom also detained thousands of militant Islamists after a series of Al-Qaeda attacks from 2003-06 that killed hundreds, and has convicted hundreds of them. Saudi state television also reported the executions.

Justice ministry spokesman Mansur al-Qafari said “interference in the kingdom’s judiciary is unacceptable”. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the executions were carried out inside prisons and not in public. Saudi executions are nearly always beheadings with a sword.

A critic of the Riyadh regime, Sheikh Nimr was shot by Saudi police and arrested in Qatif in 2012.

Saudi Arabia executed 47 people on Saturday including Nimr, whom the government had accused of inciting violence against the police.

“Let the worms eat him”, Nimr said at the time.

A video published on YouTube in 2012 showed Nimr, a slightly built man with a white beard, making a speech celebrating the 2012 death of then-interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, the crown prince’s father.

“We thought the authorities could adopt a political approach to settle matters without bloodshed.”

According to the official, charges against the prominent cleric were fabricated from the beginning.

“We were expecting and hoping for wisdom and a political solution to prevail”. His supporters say Ali al-Nimr was a juvenile when he was arrested and was tortured into confessing to crimes. His death sentence was widely criticised and protests held in various countries across the world.

Saudi Arabia has been hit by repeated Islamic State (ISIS) bombing and shooting attacks in 2015, which experts say piled on pressure to carry out harsh reprisals.