A 21-year-old found guilty of protesting against the Saudi kingdom when has was still under age 18 will be beheaded and then his body will be nailed to a cross and left to rot in public. Reports were from Saudi activists and the British anti-death-penalty NGO Reprieve.
The young man, Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr, was arrested at age 17 in 2012 during a protest in the eastern Saudi province of Qatif and charged with several crimes including membership in a terrorist organization. About 2.7 million Shia live in the kingdom’s eastern provinces, where most of its oil fields are located.
The man’s family claims that the youth is paying the price for being the nephew of the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqr Al-Nimr, well known for his opposition to the Sunni leaders of Saudi Arabia.
The cleric was also imprisoned and beheaded at the beginning of the ‘Arab Spring’. Ali was taking part in a protest in support of his uncle when he was caught by the police and charged with being part of a terrorist organization, possession of arms and throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces.
He was also found guilty of using his cell phone to organize the protest. The charges were upheld during his trial and are based on a confession that Reprieve claims was made only after being subjected to torture.
The British NGO added that the youth had been denied access to a lawyer during his trial and that his raising of the issue of torture was ignored by judges.