Saudi Executes 47 People Convicted Of Terrorism

“Even as the rulers of Saudi Arabia are supporting terror in the entire world by sending takfiris, weapons and vehicle bombs to Muslim countries, today they executed the most honest man in Saudi Arabia”, he said in a statement.

“Saudi Arabia has a superstitious religion which, backed by the U.S. and the Zionists, is training Takfiris, Daesh and Boko Haram to introduce Islam as a violent religion”, he said.

A top Iranian cleric warned the kingdom’s Al Saud ruling family would be “wiped from the pages of history”, Yemen’s Houthi group described Sheikh Nimr as a “holy warrior” and Lebanese militia Hezbollah said Riyadh had made “a grave mistake”. Demonstrators carrying pictures of Nimr faced security forces in a standoff in Abu-Saiba, a Shia village west of the capital, Manama.

In a lengthy report issued in August, Amnesty International noted the case of Lafi al-Shammari, a Saudi national with no previous criminal record who was executed in mid-2015 for drug trafficking.

In a press release read on state TV, the ministry listed the names of all those it said were already convicted on charges of terrorism.

“The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and his messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified”, read a statement from Riyadh’s Interior Ministry, citing the Quran. Saudi Arabia does not release annual tallies, though it does announce individual executions in state media throughout the year.

Those executed include an Egyptian and a Chadian. The kingdom said its judiciary process requires at least 13 judges at three levels of court to rule in favour of an execution before it is carried out.

Al-Nimr was arrested by the Saudi authorities in 2012 during protests in the east of the country. “Al-Nimr’s words have gained him increased notoriety due to fears that his words will spark unrest and perhaps point to an Iranian hand in Saudi Arabia”.

Amnesty International has called the verdict against the cleric, who was in his mid-50s, part of a campaign by Saudi authorities to “crush all dissent”.

Over the past few weeks, however, there has been a marked drop in executions, all of which are reported by the official Saudi Press Agency.

A demonstrator outside the Saudi embassy protests the death sentence of Nimr al-Nimr.

“Sheikh Nimr enjoyed high esteem in his community and within Muslim society in general and no doubt there will be reaction”.

In announcing the verdicts, Saudi state television showed mugshots of all those executed. Four, including al Nimr, were Shias accused of shooting policemen. Soft, traditional music played in the background.

The ministry said the executions were carried out on January 2 in 12 different areas of the kingdom.

Al Nimr’s family said they were shocked but did not want his execution to result in any more bloodshed. “We hope it would be handed over as soon as possible”. “But we hope for peaceful reactions”, he added.