As a prelude, please view the below thread to know the genesis of the story and case:

"Tyrannical Wahhabi Saudi Regime Shot And Arrested Dissident Ayatollah"
https://www.nairaland.com/985826/tyrannical-wahhabi-saudi-regime-shot

15 October 2014 Last updated at 17:33 GMT

BBC

Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr 'sentenced to death'


Activists and relatives say Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr supported only peaceful protests and eschewed violence

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr to death, his family says.

Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr's brother said he was found guilty of seeking "foreign meddling" in the kingdom, "disobeying" its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces.

The cleric was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in Eastern Province in 2011.

His arrest two years ago, during which he was shot, triggered days of unrest.

Oil-rich Eastern Province is home to a Shia majority that has long complained of marginalisation at the hands of the Sunni royal family.

Protests began there in February 2011 after the start of the pro-democracy uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, which has a Shia majority and a Sunni royal family.

The Saudi authorities deny discriminating against Shia and blame Iran for stirring up discontent.

'Dangerous precedent'
Sheikh Nimr's brother Mohammed said on Twitter that he had been sentenced to death by Riyadh's Specialised Criminal Court, which tries terrorism cases, on Wednesday morning.

A statement by the cleric's family described the verdict as "discretionary", saying the judge had the option of imposing a lighter sentence, according to the Associated Press. It also warned that the trial had been "political" and had set a "dangerous precedent for decades to come".

When Sheikh Nimr, who holds the rank of ayatollah, went on trial in March 2013 prosecutors called for his execution by "crucifixion", a punishment which in Saudi Arabia involves beheading followed by public display of the decapitated body.

Human rights groups expressed concern at the time that he would not receive a fair trial. They also said he had still not been given access to adequate medical care for the gunshot wounds he received during his arrest in July 2012, something denied by the authorities.



Police shot Sheikh Nimr in the leg four times in disputed circumstances as they detained him after a car chase in Eastern Province's Qatif district.

Officials said he rammed a security forces vehicle, leading to a gun battle. However, his family disputed the allegation that he resisted arrest and insisted that he did not own a weapon.

The cleric was held for eight months before being charged and reportedly spent the first four in an isolation cell at a prison hospital in Riyadh.

Activists and relatives say Sheikh Nimr, who has a wide following among Shia in Eastern Province and other states, supported only peaceful protests and eschewed all violent opposition to the government.

In 2011, he told the BBC that he supported "the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons... the weapon of the word is stronger than bullets, because authorities will profit from a battle of weapons".

His arrest prompted days of protests in which three people were killed.

Human Rights Watch said more than 1,040 people had been arrested at Shia protests between February 2011 and August 2014. At least 240 are still believed to be in detention.

"I think the message that Saudis are saying is: 'We will arrest anybody. We don't care how high profile they are... nobody is above this. We don't have any tolerance. We don't have any flexibility,'" HRW Middle East researcher Adam Coogle told AP after Sheikh Nimr's sentencing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29627766

CHECK THE BELOW VIDEOS, AND SEE THAT AYATOLLAH NIMR IS BEING PUNISHED WAHHABI-STYLE BECAUSE OF FREE SPEECH WHICH THE OPPRESSIVE, TYRANNICAL SAUDI WAHHABI REGIME DOESN'T TOLERATE! INDEED, HE IS A PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE!!!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-OSh5Hnvw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSEG34wxgaY

Saudi Arabia faces outcry over death sentence for Shia faith leader

Nimr Baqir al-Nimr’s conviction for sedition adding to unrest and promoting sectarian hatred, says Human Rights Watch


Ian Black, Middle East editor

The Guardian, Thursday 16 October 2014 19.01 BST



A woman near Manama, Bahrain, holds up a portrait of Shia leader Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in solidarity. Photograph: Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images


Saudi Arabia is facing an international outcry and accusations of promoting sectarian hatred after a Shia Muslim religious leader from the country’s volatile eastern province was sentenced to death.

Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who led protests in Qatif at the height of the Arab spring in 2011, was convicted on Wednesday of sedition and other charges in a case that has been followed closely by Shias in the kingdom and neighbouring Bahrain.

Shia Muslims make up 10%-15% of the population of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which bills itself as playing a lead role in the fight against the jihadis of Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq. Riyadh has supported Sunni groups fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad but denies backing Isis.

State prosecutors had reportedly asked for Nimr to be crucified. The sentence is thought likely to be commuted on appeal.

Nimr was arrested in 2012 and ill-treated during his two-year detention, much of it spent in solitary confinement. He was denied surgery for bullet wounds suffered when he was arrested. He was charged with “disobeying the ruler”, “inciting sectarian strife”, and encouraging and leading demonstrations.

In Iran, Saudi Arabia’s chief regional rival and the political centre of the Shia world, the foreign ministry warned on Thursday that execution would have “dire consequences”. It called Nimr an ayatollah, giving him the second most senior clerical title in the Shia hierarchy. Iran, like Saudi Arabia, uses capital punishment.

In London the Foreign Office stated that it was aware of the sentencing, adding: “The UK opposes the death penalty as a matter of principle.”

The Saudi authorities have portrayed the cleric as an “instigator of discord and rioting”. But Nimr’s supporters and family have denied that he incited violence.

In a BBC interview, Nimr said he backed “the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons”. The arrest of his brother and other relatives after sentencing has fuelled anger that is being ventilated on Twitter and other social media.

“Saudi Arabia’s harsh treatment of a prominent Shia cleric is only adding to existing sectarian discord and unrest,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi Arabia’s path to stability in the eastern province lies in ending systematic discrimination against Shia citizens, not in death sentences.”

Amnesty International described Nimr’s sentencing as part of a wider Saudi government crackdown on dissent.

Shia and Sunni groups said they were extremely alarmed by the sentence. “Ayatollah al-Nimr is a respected Muslim figure in Saudi Arabia,” 10 organisations said in statement. “He is a faith leader, reformist and human rights activist, who has campaigned for an end to discriminatory laws against the Shia minority. The sentencing will further inflame sectarian tensions and provide encouragement to extremist groups such as Isis to continue their persecution of religious minorities.”

Toby Matthiessen, a Cambridge expert on Saudi Arabia, said: “In the last two years Nimr has become known by Shia across the world. For many Salafis and Sunnis with anti-Shia leanings he has become a real hate figure. In the context of Isis, with the Saudi royal family trying to legitimise itself in the eyes of Sunnis, being tough is probably a positive thing. Nimr was a revolutionary who called for non-violent protests and the downfall of the Al Saud, but also for Assad to go. He wasn’t sectarian.”

Yusif al-Khoei, of the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation, said he was “appalled” by the news and with others was considering boycotting a Saudi-organised conference on inter-religious dialogue in Vienna.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/16/saudi-arabia-death-sentence-shia-nimr-baqir-human-rights

LagosShia:
As a prelude, please view the below thread to know the genesis of the story and case:

"Tyrannical Wahhabi Saudi Regime Shot And Arrested Dissident Ayatollah"
https://www.nairaland.com/985826/tyrannical-wahhabi-saudi-regime-shot

15 October 2014 Last updated at 17:33 GMT

BBC

Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr 'sentenced to death'


Activists and relatives say Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr supported only peaceful protests and eschewed violence

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr to death, his family says.

Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr's brother said he was found guilty of seeking "foreign meddling" in the kingdom, "disobeying" its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces.

The cleric was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in Eastern Province in 2011.

His arrest two years ago, during which he was shot, triggered days of unrest.

Oil-rich Eastern Province is home to a Shia majority that has long complained of marginalisation at the hands of the Sunni royal family.

Protests began there in February 2011 after the start of the pro-democracy uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, which has a Shia majority and a Sunni royal family.

The Saudi authorities deny discriminating against Shia and blame Iran for stirring up discontent.

'Dangerous precedent'
Sheikh Nimr's brother Mohammed said on Twitter that he had been sentenced to death by Riyadh's Specialised Criminal Court, which tries terrorism cases, on Wednesday morning.

A statement by the cleric's family described the verdict as "discretionary", saying the judge had the option of imposing a lighter sentence, according to the Associated Press. It also warned that the trial had been "political" and had set a "dangerous precedent for decades to come".

When Sheikh Nimr, who holds the rank of ayatollah, went on trial in March 2013 prosecutors called for his execution by "crucifixion", a punishment which in Saudi Arabia involves beheading followed by public display of the decapitated body.

Human rights groups expressed concern at the time that he would not receive a fair trial. They also said he had still not been given access to adequate medical care for the gunshot wounds he received during his arrest in July 2012, something denied by the authorities.



Police shot Sheikh Nimr in the leg four times in disputed circumstances as they detained him after a car chase in Eastern Province's Qatif district.

Officials said he rammed a security forces vehicle, leading to a gun battle. However, his family disputed the allegation that he resisted arrest and insisted that he did not own a weapon.

The cleric was held for eight months before being charged and reportedly spent the first four in an isolation cell at a prison hospital in Riyadh.

Activists and relatives say Sheikh Nimr, who has a wide following among Shia in Eastern Province and other states, supported only peaceful protests and eschewed all violent opposition to the government.

In 2011, he told the BBC that he supported "the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons... the weapon of the word is stronger than bullets, because authorities will profit from a battle of weapons".

His arrest prompted days of protests in which three people were killed.

Human Rights Watch said more than 1,040 people had been arrested at Shia protests between February 2011 and August 2014. At least 240 are still believed to be in detention.

"I think the message that Saudis are saying is: 'We will arrest anybody. We don't care how high profile they are... nobody is above this. We don't have any tolerance. We don't have any flexibility,'" HRW Middle East researcher Adam Coogle told AP after Sheikh Nimr's sentencing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29627766

If not for wealth.......the saudis would be worst than our brothers from northern extraction..............Islam has gotn too violent and d Quran and Hadith needs to be revised to deal with modernizatin and changing times

podosci:

If not for wealth.......the saudis would be worst than our brothers from northern extraction..............Islam has gotn too violent and d Quran and Hadith needs to be revised to deal with modernizatin and changing times

my dear, it isn't the Qur'an or Hadiths that need reform. these are only writings on paper. you cannot reform or change historical records. that would become tampering or plagiarism. it would appear as if the extremists do have a point, and are the "real muslims", and other muslims who oppose them are "fake" and are trying to "hide" something from the texts which we all read to gain inspiration from.

it is Muslims that need reform. just as the extremists can cherry-pick verses and narrations from the Holy Qur'an and Hadith records, and twist them and take them out of their historical contexts, to justify their barbarism and backwardness, there are verses and narrations that easily, truthfully and conveniently promote peace, love, mercy, tolerance and co-existence. the Saudi problem is one of both a deadly ideology called Wahhabism/Salafism coupled with abundant money/petro-dollars. the deadly Wahhabi ideology is there, and the money to fuel it is also there endlessly. so that is the problem. Saudi Wahhabism has eaten up the body of Muslim/Islam.

LagosShia:


my dear, it isn't the Qur'an or Hadiths that need reform. these are only writings on paper. you cannot reform or change historical records. that would become tampering or plagiarism. it would appear as if the extremists do have a point, and are the "real muslims", and other muslims who oppose them are "fake" and are trying to "hide" something from the texts which we all ready to gain inspiration from.

it is Muslims that need reform. just as the extremists can cherry-pick verses and narrations from the Holy Qur'an and Hadith records, and twist them and take them out of their historical contexts, to justify their barbarism and backwardness, there are verses and narrations that easily, truthfully and conveniently promote peace, love, mercy, tolerance and co-existence. the Saudi problem is one of both a deadly ideology called Wahhabism/Salafism coupled with abundant money/petro-dollars. the deadly Wahhabi ideology is there, and the money to fuel it is also there endlessly. so that is the problem. Saudi Wahhabism had eaten up the body of Muslim/Islam.

There is a verse in the Quran that supports the killing of muslims who convert to other religion...it is written in black and white,,,,,,,,d Religion like all other religion propagates peace but the laws of the religion are obsolete and both the Quran and Hadith need reform

podosci:

There is a verse in the Quran that supports the killing of muslims who convert to other religion...it is written in black and white,,,,,,,,d Religion like all other religion propagates peace but the laws of the religion are obsolete and both the Quran and Hadith need reform

there is no verse in the Qur'an that proclaims the death penalty for apostasy. it is just not found in the Qur'an. in fact, quite the contrary is found. take a look:

"And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." (18:29)

"There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong." (2:256)

"You have your religion, and I have my religion." (109:6)

"Those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe again, then disbelieve, and then increase in their disbelief - Allah will never forgive them nor guide them to the path." (4:137).

based on verse (4:137),if a person is to be killed for apostasy,then how can he "believe again after he disbelieves"?

LagosShia:


there is no verse in the Qur'an that proclaims the death penalty for apostasy. it is just not found in the Qur'an. in fact, quite the contrary is found. take a look:

"And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." (18:29)

"There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong." (2:256)

"You have your religion, and I have my religion." (109:6)

"Those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe again, then disbelieve, and then increase in their disbelief - Allah will never forgive them nor guide them to the path." (4:137).

based on verse (4:137),if a person is to be killed for apostasy,then how can he "believe again after he disbelieves"?

There is a verse that supports the killing of people for the crime of apostesy ii jst cant remember it but even so, Saudi Arabia has been killing people for apostesy for years,,,its in there sharia law

Sunni muslims terrorising shia muslims since Ali died

I can't see any crime of this cleric to support this death sentence, it's just absurd the al-saud family and their monarchy/tyranny,

Why won't Iran cry out, the sheik is shia and Iran is predominantly Shia muslim, Infact the Iranian Press tv has been singing it and yes I support that, even apart from the Shia/Sunni difference, no sincere person will keep mute and watch this barbaric killing. People have been talking, even Amnesty int'l has slammed Saudi,

The pressure and outcry is intense, let's see how it goes.