Riyadh executes Shia cleric

Saudi Arabia has executed prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr along with 47 others in defiance of international calls for the release of the top religious figure and other jailed political dissidents in the kingdom. The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and state television reported the executions Saturday, citing the kingdom’s Interior Ministry.

According to the Saudi ministry, those executed had been found guilty of involvement in “terrorism.” Sheikh Nimr, a critic of the Riyadh regime, was shot by Saudi police and arrested in 2012 in the Qatif region of Shia-dominated Eastern Province, which was the scene of peaceful anti-regime demonstrations at the time.

He was charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security, making anti-government speeches and defending political prisoners. He had rejected all the charges as baseless In 2014, a Saudi court sentenced Sheikh Nimr to death, provoking widespread global condemnations. The sentence was upheld last March by the appeal court of Saudi Arabia.