Activists say the younger al-Nimr was tortured, denied access to lawyers, and forced to sign a confession under duress; they claim there is no evidence of firearms offenses al-Nimr was charged with, and al-Nimr and his family deny all the charges against him.
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Saudi Arabia’s execution record will hit an “appalling new low” if it follows through with a sentence on a Saudi man for crimes related to a 2011 protest movement, committed when he was only 17, an worldwide human rights group said on Wednesday.
“The only way to get Ali out of this would be a royal pardon”. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is a well-known critic of the Saudi government.
“Whether he will be released or not depends on what the king decides”.
Al-Nimr was likely targeted because he is the nephew of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimra, a prominent Shi’a cleric who was also sentenced to death in 2014.
“We can just hope”. It really seems to be picking up in terms of global and state pressure.
When the news broke, al-Nimr’s case went viral on social media, with the hashtag #AliMohammedAl_Nimr and #Ali_AlNimr trending on Twitter. “Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights. In May 2015, the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced Mr.al-Nimr to death… and confirmed its sentence in September”, the statement read.
Despite this risk, Esia said silence is not an option. “Worldwide law, accepted as binding by Saudi Arabia, provides that capital punishment may only be imposed following trials that comply with the most stringent requirements of fair trial and due process, or could otherwise be considered an arbitrary execution”, said the experts.
According to Newsweek, many were outraged when the United Nations announced its decision to appoint Saudi representative Faisal bin Hassan Trad as the chair of the Consultative Group, five ambassadors tasked with heading the organization’s human rights councils and responsible for selecting officials to report on human rights violations worldwide.
Since King Salman came to power in January, the country has continued executions, reportedly surpassing 100 for the year so far.
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On May 6, the 79th execution of the year was carried out and is close to taking over its 2014 total of 87 executions.
