Saudi Arabia Executes Prominent Government Critic, 46 Others

Qassim al-Araji, a leader of the Badr Organization, another Iranian-linked Shi’ite paramilitary group with a political wing, called on the government to cut diplomatic ties immediately. Of those executed, 45 were Saudi citizens, one was from Chad and another was from Egypt.

Iranian officials have been strident in their condemnation, with the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei posting a picture suggesting the execution was comparable to the actions of the so-called Islamic State group.

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.

“This case has also the potential of enflaming further the sectarian tensions that already bring so much damage to the entire region, with risky consequences”, Mogherini said in the statement.

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said Saudi Arabia had executed more than 150 people during 2015, many for non-violent offences.

After listing the names and images of those executed, Saudi state television showed black-and-white footage of previous terror attacks in the kingdom, one showing bodies in a mosque after an attack.

During the meeting, Nimr reportedly said Saudi Arabia’s Shiite population had a right to seek support form a foreign power should it become involved in a conflict with other Saudis.

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ashtari, from Mudaressi’s office, said he wanted “the Iraqi government to take a clear and honest position regarding this major tragedy”.

A spokesperson with Iran’s foreign ministry, Hossein Jaber Ansari, was said to have issued a statement that Saudi Arabia would “pay a high price” for the execution of the Shia cleric, with whom the largely Shia nation was sympathetic, according to Al Jazeera.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric has defended the executions, calling it a “mercy to the prisoners” because it would save them from committing more evil acts and prevent chaos.

He is said to have had a particularly strong following among Shia youth in Saudi Arabia – as well as in Bahrain.

The 47 who were executed included an al-Qaida ideologue as well as Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied anti-government protests before his arrest in 2012.

But in the eyes of the Saudi police and the court that convicted him late in 2014, the 56-year-old was an instigator of shooting and bombing attacks against the authorities on behalf of Riyadh’s main regional rival, Shi’ite Iran.

Al-Nimr’s brother Mohammed al-Nimr told the Associated Press he is shocked by the move, because “we thought the authorities could adopt a political approach to settle matters without bloodshed”.

In a statement aired on its TV network, Asaib Ahl al-Haq called the execution, which was announced Saturday, a “new crime” carried out by the Saudi royal family. He was later convicted, and his death sentenced upheld, on charges of attacking security forces and taking part in protests, among other charges.

Nimr, wiry and greybearded, had been the most vocal critic of the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud clan for years before mass protests erupted among Saudi Shi’ites during the 2011 Arab uprisings, and had called for demonstrations.

Sheikh Nimr never denied the political charges against him but his supporters say he advocated only peaceful demonstrations and eschewed violence against the government.

Former Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said the decision to execute Nimr would topple the Saudi government “as the crime of executing the martyr (Mohammed Baqir) al-Sadr did to Saddam (Hussein)”, referring to another prominent Shi’ite cleric killed by the Iraqi government in 1980.