[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

Wed Oct 28 08:48:11 CDT 2015

Oct. 28

SINGAPORE:

President rejects clemency plea of Malaysian in unique case

President Tony Tan has rejected the clemency appeal of Malaysian Kho Jabing to 
be spared the death sentence.

The 31-year old from Sarawak, along with an accomplice, Galing Kujat, were 
arrested in 2008 for the murder of 40-year old Cao Ruyin.

Mr Cao, a Chinese national, was bludgeoned to death by the 2 in Geylang during 
a robbery where he was robbed of his mobile phone and was beaten with a tree 
branch and died from his injuries 6 days later.

In 2010, both Kho and Kujat, who is also a Malaysian, were found guilty of the 
charges and were sentenced to death.

The 2 men appealed their sentences in 2013.

The Court of Appeal (CA) upheld Kho's conviction and sentence; but it allowed 
Kujat's appeal, and substituted his conviction for murder with an offence of 
robbery with hurt. The CA then sent his case back to the High Court for 
re-sentencing.

Kujat was then given 18 years and 6 months imprisonment, and 19 strokes of the 
cane.

In 2013, the government introduced changes to the mandatory death penalty laws 
where the death sentence would be applied only to the most serious of murder 
(and drug trafficking) cases.

Under the changes, a convicted person on death row could apply for alternative 
sentences, if he fulfilled certain and specific conditions.

Kho's lawyer, Anand Nalachandran, then applied for his client to be 
re-sentenced under the new legal regime.

In 2013, the CA allowed Kho's application and remitted his case to the High 
Court for re-sentencing.

The High Court subsequently reduced Kho's death sentence to life imprisonment, 
with the maximum 24 strokes of the cane.

"There was no clear sequence of events concerning the attack," Justice Tay Yong 
Kwang said then.

He added, referring to the critical issue of how the assault took place: "There 
was no clear evidence that the convicted person went after the deceased from 
behind without warning and started hitting him on the head with the piece of 
wood."

The prosecution, however, appealed the High Court's decision on the grounds 
that "this was an extremely vicious attack on the victim."

The Court of Appeal (CA), this time made up of a rare 5-men panel, eventually 
overturned the High Court's decision with a 3-2 vote earlier this year.

Kho's case is the 1st case of its kind to reach the Court of Appeal since the 
amendments to the mandatory death penalty were enacted.

One of the main questions which the CA considered was whether Mr Kho had 
"exhibited a blatant disregard for human life in the way he attacked the 
deceased."

"In determining whether the actions of the offender would outrage the feelings 
of the community, we find that the death penalty would be the appropriate 
sentence when the offender has acted in a way which exhibits viciousness or a 
blatant disregard for human life," the judges said in their written decision.

"Viewed in this light, it is the manner in which the offender acted which takes 
centre stage. For example, in the case of a violent act leading to death, the 
savagery of the attack would be indicative of the offender's regard for human 
life. The number of stabs or blows, the area of the injury, the duration of the 
attack and the force used would all be pertinent factors to be considered."

The judges added, "It is the offender's (dis)regard for human life which will 
be critical."

"This explains why an offence under s 300(a) of the PC, where the offender had 
the clear intention to cause death, still carries the mandatory death penalty."

The judges considered that Kho, who was 24 at the time of the crime, had 
approached Cao from behind when the assault happened; "that after the deceased 
fell to the ground after the 1st blow and then turned around to face upwards, 
[Kho] struck him once more"; and that "the force he exerted in the 2 blows must 
have been so great as to cause fracturing of such severity and magnitude."

"In light of the sheer savagery and brutality exhibited by the Respondent, we 
are completely satisfied that the Respondent exhibited a blatant disregard for 
human life in the way he attacked the deceased," the CA judges said.

The CA then overturned Justice Tay's decision and re-imposed the death sentence 
on Kho.

On 19 October, the family of Kho was informed that the president, after due 
consideration and on advice of the Cabinet, has rejected Kho's appeal for 
clemency.

This means that Kho has exhausted all legal avenues for reprieve.

"He told us that when he dies we should not be sad or cry because this is his 
destiny, and that he is very grateful for everyone's help," Jumai Kho, the 
sister of the inmate, said after their 1st visit with her brother.

According to the Second Chances website, although he had been a Christian 
before, Kho had converted to Islam while in prison.

"My brother says he wants the Malaysian embassy to help fly his body back to 
Miri after he dies," Jumai added.

In a letter of thanks to activists who have been campaigning for him, Kho 
thanked them for their effort.

"May God repay all of your kindness, amen," he said. "Because you've helped 
with the cost and expenses of [bringing] my mother and sister [to Singapore]. 
May we meet again in heaven in the future."

It is unknown when his execution will be carried out but hangings in Singapore 
are usually held on Friday mornings, at dawn.

The inmate is informed only about 3 days before he is due to be hanged.

(source: theonlinecitizen.com)

*********************

1 kg of cannabis seized, 3 arrested----Central Narcotics Bureau officers arrest 
a 20-year-old Singaporean suspected drug trafficker with 95 LSD stamps on him.

An operation to nab a suspected drug trafficker at Tiong Bahru led to the 
arrest of 3 people, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) announced on Wednesday 
(Oct 28).

CNB said it also seized about drugs estimated to be worth more than S$61,000 
from the operation on Tuesday.

Officers had been deployed to Eng Hoon Street to arrest the suspected drug 
trafficker, a 20-year-old Singaporean. A packet of 'Ice' of about 130g, and 
another packet containing a total of 95 Lysergide (LSD) stamps and some drug 
paraphernalia were found on him.

Another 20-year-old who is suspected to be a drug abuser was arrested with him, 
CNB said.

Further investigations led CNB officers to the arrest of a 35-year-old 
Malaysian man at Woodlands. A block of cannabis weighing about 1kg and cash 
were found after a search of his van.

Investigations into all 3 suspects are ongoing, CNB said. Those convicted of 
trafficking in more than 500g of cannabis may face the death penalty.

(source: Channel News Asia)

ETHIOPIA:

Ginbot 7 Leader's Only Request To Be 'Buried in England' ---- Andargachew 
Tsege, a British man who has done considerable campaigning work in Ethiopia 
with the group Ginbot 7, exposing the corruption and cruelty of the current 
regime, has been imprisoned in Addis Ababa since last June. He has been 
sentenced to death, and has so lost faith in his chances of returning to the UK 
alive that, in a recent meeting with the British Ambassador Greg Dorey, he made 
only one request: that the government ensure he is buried in England.

A British man currently on death row in Ethiopia has asked the UK ambassador to 
make sure that he is buried in England during a meeting that highlighted 
serious concerns over the handling of his case and his treatment in prison.

BuzzFeed News has seen a redacted copy of notes written by ambassador Greg 
Dorey of his meeting with Andargachew Tsege, 59, at Kality prison near Addis 
Ababa on 15 October.

Tsege, a father of 3 from north London, was snatched by Ethiopian security 
forces at an airport in Yemen last June while he was waiting for a flight to 
Eritrea. He was taken to Ethiopia having been sentenced to death in his absence 
for allegedly plotting a coup and planning to kill Ethiopian officials, 
allegations he denies.

Campaigners claim the real reason he faces execution is that he fell out with 
former prime minister Meles Zenawi after exposing government corruption.

Dorey writes in his notes that Tsege told him his status in Kality Prison was 
odd, "since he had no 'warrant number' (i.e. prisoner number), so he was 'not 
even in the system'".

Nothing had been said to Tsege about charges against him, Dorey writes, and so 
a formal charge sheet had been demanded. "He had only heard on radio, TV and 
the internet about previous charges against him," Dorey says, "and had the 
right to know why he was in prison."

The notes continue: "At this point he became a little more emotional. He said 
he would 'take his own measures ... I will not allow myself to be debased and 
dehumanised' (no further details)."

The ambassador's notes conclude:

I asked if he had messages for the family. He said "Hello, be brave". He did 
not want "complications". Finally, he asked us to ensure he was "buried in 
England" - it was important for children to know where their parent/s ended up. 
I said I would come and see him in a month. He commented that I had said that 
last time and then had been unable to visit until now, but he fully realised 
that was not my fault. I said I had been given a high-level promise that a 
visit in a month would be possible.

Tsege told the ambassador he was sleeping in a small cell with 3 other people 
and had not been outside the prison at any point. He said he was occasionally 
being visited by his 90-year-old father and his stepmother.

He said he picked up news from listening to other inmates' TVs, and expressed 
surprise that his MP, Jeremy Corbyn, was now leader of the Labour party - 
"interesting, obviously the party is moving to the Left".

He spoke at length to the ambassador about his political views. Dorey's notes 
read:

He [said he was] was a prisoner of political masters but they were not applying 
the relevant regulations properly to him. Yet he was one of their friendliest 
critics, who understood them better than anyone and they shouldn't demean him. 
He had served the regime in the past whole-heartedly and left it on principle. 
Some problems had since been resolved, others were still real ...

When they had beaten and insulted him before in 2005 he had had no reason to go 
into opposition politics and was not even a member of the opposition - nor had 
he supported them. And actually Meles himself had said Ethiopia needed a "good 
opposition". He had only spoken about politics by peaceful means.

Earlier this week the Ethiopian foreign minister, Tedros Adanhom, was in London 
for the UK Ethiopia Trade Investment Forum, an event supported by the Foreign 
Office.

BuzzFeed News revealed that Foreign Office minister Grant Shapps delivered the 
keynote address at the forum, and is understood to have said that "the UK 
stands shoulder to shoulder with Ethiopia in transformational change" while, 
behind the scenes at the event, his department continued to lobby for Tsege's 
release.

In response to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News about the ambassador's 
memo, foreign secretary Philip Hammond said: "I raised the case of Andargachew 
Tsege with the Ethiopian foreign minister during our meeting on 21 October, and 
made it clear that the way he has been treated is unacceptable. I welcome the 
improvement in access to him, following the British government's intervention, 
but it must be more regular and it must include access to a lawyer.

"I am still not satisfied that Mr Tsege has been given an ability to challenge 
his detention through a legal process, and this is something we are continuing 
to pursue. The Foreign Office will continue to provide consular support to Mr 
Tsege and his family."

But campaigners say the UK government is not doing enough to secure Tsege's 
release.

Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at legal charity Reprieve, said: "Andy 
Tsege is a British father of three who has been subjected to 16 months' of 
abuse at the hands of the Ethiopian authorities - from kidnap to torture to an 
in absentia death sentence. It is tragic that he now feels the only way he will 
return home to Britain is in a coffin.

"Yet instead of demanding Andy's release from unlawful detention, ministers 
have been cosying up to the Ethiopians at a special trade event just last week. 
The Foreign Office must urgently push for his release, so he can return to his 
partner and children in London before it's too late."

(source: unpo.org)

PAKISTAN----execution

Murder convict executed

A murder convict was executed at Dera Ghazi Khan Central Jail on Tuesday. 
Police said Abdul Majeed, son of Ghulam Hussain, resident of Chah Gulwala in 
Taunsa tehsil, had murdered his brother Ali Ahmad and his nephew Abdul Aziz on 
November 22, 2002. Police said they had had a dispute over who would use the 
family's tractor. Ratera police had registered a case against him. Additional 
District and Sessions Judge Ishtiaq Ahmad had sentenced him to death on April 
29, 2003. Majeed had appealed his case in the superior courts but they upheld 
his sentence. The president had rejected his mercy plea. He was hanged on 
Tuesday and his body was handed over to his family.

(source: The Express Tribune)

**************

New Reports Emerge About Asia Bibi on Death Row ---- Pakistani authorities have 
imprisoned Asia Bibi for 6 years at this point. Pakistani authorities have 
imprisoned Asia Bibi for 6 years at this point.

The lawyer of the only Pakistani Christian woman to be given the death penalty 
for alleged blasphemy met her in prison last week, reporting that she is safe 
and in good health.

The final appeal for Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, is pending 
before Pakistan's top court, after the Lahore High Court turned down her appeal 
last October on technical grounds. The mother of 5 has been in prison since the 
summer of 2009, when she was arrested on allegations of insulting the prophet 
of Islam.

Defense lawyer Saif-ul-Malook told World Watch Monitor that he was accompanied 
by Asia Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih on his Oct. 21 visit in the Multan Women's 
Prison.

Through Malook, a prominent attorney and expert in Islamic law, Noreen had been 
allowed to take the final appeal against her death penalty to the Supreme Court 
in Islamabad in July 2015.

Malook told World Watch Monitor that since early October several foreign news 
agencies, including one from the Vatican, contacted him over news that Noreen's 
health was worsening. "After this I decided to visit the prison and personally 
meet Asia, to ascertain if the news was correct," he said.

"Only family of the inmate or the lawyer representing the convict can visit the 
chamber, so Ashiq and I went together to see her. Inmates on death row are 
separated and locked into an 8-by-10 feet chamber called a death cell," Malook 
said.

"There are 3 death cells in this prison and Asia is the only death convict, so 
2 cells are empty. She has been given one servant who sits outside the lockup 
for any help," the lawyer said. "Asia is probably the only prisoner in Pakistan 
who has been given a TV set in her cell. She looked healthy and normal, but I 
still asked her if she suffered any serious illness."

"Asia has totally denied she ever suffered any serious illness since 2009 in 
prison. She became happy when I told her that she would soon be released," her 
lawyer said.

Malook stated that the deputy-superintendent of police was also present during 
his meeting with Noreen. "There are no men in the prison, and one extra female 
police officer is deployed outside her chamber so that her security could be 
ensured," he said.

Masih confirmed to World Watch Monitor that he had visited his wife with 
Malook, and that none of his daughters accompanied them on this visit. He could 
see "a glimmer of hope" on Noreen's face, her husband said.

Malook's account of Noreen's health contrasts with reports, which began to 
surface a year ago, that she had become seriously ill. Since that time, hard 
evidence or on-the-record testimony about her condition has been scarce, and 
what information has emerged has been inconistent.

In October 2014, Agence France-Press cited an unnamed Pakistani government 
"official" as saying that Noreen "was vomiting blood last month and was having 
difficulty walking." AFP also quoted the noted Pakistani Christan activist 
Sardar Mushtaq Gill as saying that Noreen's "life is in danger because of her 
health." Yet the news agency also quoted an unnamed "source close to the 
prisoner's family" as saying "we were told that her health condition had 
worsened at one time but she was recovering now."

In June of this year, reports again appeared with claims Noreen was vomiting 
blood and was almost too weak to walk. Few of the reports contained firsthand 
information or original reporting. Several, including a June 30 item posted by 
the U.K.-based dailymail.com, based their reports on an item posted on a 
website called The Global Dispatch. The Global Dispatch, in turn, had relied 
upon a single source: a website called maslibres.org, which is published by 
hatzeoir.org, a Madrid-based not-for-profit organization that says it is 
devoted to human-rights advocacy.

Though MasLibres has devoted significant attention to Noreen's case, the 
website currently does not contain any report that Noreen is in ill health. It 
has earlier hosted an advocacy visit to Europe by Ashiq Masih.

In fact, on Oct. 22, MasLibres published a more upbeat assessment following a 
prison visit to Noreen by Joseph Nadeem, director of the Lahore-based 
Renaissance Education Foundation. Malook, the attorney, accompanied Nadeem on 
the visit, MasLibres reported. (It's not clear if this was the Oct. 21 visit 
reported above.)

"They found Asia Bibi in good health and state of mind," the article reported.

Yet there also are indications all is not well inside Multan Jail. Open Doors 
International, a charity that supports Christians who are under pressure 
because of their faith, said this month that "people close to the case" have 
told church contacts in Pakistan that the prison is an overcrowded, unsanitary 
"hell hole," and that Noreen is in poor health.

Malook had previously served as the prosecution lawyer in the murder case of 
the former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, who was assassinated after visiting 
Asia Bibi in prison and supporting her case. The governor had called Pakistan's 
blasphemy statutes "black laws," calling for their reform and supporting a 
presidential pardon for Asia Bibi.

Taseer was shot and killed by Mumtaz Qadri, a 26-year-old member of his own 
security detail, in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on Jan. 4, 2011. Qadri shot 
the governor 27 times without being intercepted by other police officers 
present at the crime scene. Then he threw down his AK-47 sub-machine gun and 
reportedly pleaded to be arrested so that he could explain his intentions, to 
punish Taseer for opposing Asia Bibi's blasphemy conviction.

Because of death threats from hardliners, no lawyer would agree to represent 
Qadri's prosecution. After months of no representation, Malook took up the 
case. When the trial judge, Pervez Ali Shah, convicted Qadri and sentenced him 
to death in October 2011, the judge was threatened and finally sent to Saudi 
Arabia for fear of his life.

However a recent Supreme Court landmark decision has upheld the judgment that 
Qadri had no legal justification to take the law into his own hands and 
reconfirmed his death sentence. This vindicated Malook's bold prosecution of 
the case. However, it is this verdict that has provoked the backlash against 
Aasiya Noreen by extremists.

Malook said the Supreme Court hearing in Noreen's case should begin sometime in 
January or February 2016. He remains "quite hopeful" she will be acquitted and 
released, he said. Citing "insufficient evidence" against her, he has not found 
sufficient legal grounds against her under either civil or Islamic law.

(source: Charisma News)

BANGLADESH:

SC to hear Mojaheed, Nizami's petitions for lawyers Nov 2

The chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday sent 
two petitions of convicted war criminals Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Motiur Rahman 
Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed to its full bench for hearing on 
November 2.

Zainul Abedin, advocate on record for both Nizami and Mojaheed's cases, filed 
the 2 petitions on Sunday seeking directives from the SC on police to refrain 
from "harassing" Shishir Manir and Asaduddin, lawyers of Mojaheed and Nizami, 
and for allowing the lawyers to assist senior counsels in the cases.

Asaduddin, a member of Nizami's defence team, was arrested on Thursday 
allegedly for planning subversive activities and placed on a two-day remand on 
Monday. On Thursday, a team of law enforcers searched the house of Shishir 
Manir, one of Mojaheed's lawyers.

Chamber judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain yesterday asked the attorney general 
to look into the matter so that Manir does not face any disturbance in 
assisting his seniors in Mojaheed's case.

Talking to The Daily Star, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said he would inform 
the matter to the law enforcing authorities.

The SC on November 2 is scheduled to hear a petition of Mojaheed seeking review 
of its judgement that upheld his death penalty for war crimes.

The following day, the apex court would hear the appeal of Nizami against the 
verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that sentenced him to death for 
war crimes.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch expressed worry over the arrest of Asaduddin 
and said the Bangladesh authorities should either immediately charge him or 
release him.

The US-based rights body made the call in a report titled "Bangladesh: Charge 
or Release Detained Counsel".

(source: The Daiy Star)

****************

2 opposition leaders face imminent execution after serious flaws in their 
trials and appeals

2 opposition politicians face imminent hanging for crimes committed during the 
1971 Independence War after serious flaws occurred in their trial and appeal 
processes, Amnesty International said today.

In 2013 Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury were 
sentenced to death by the country's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on 
charges of war crimes and genocide at trials that failed to meet international 
standards for fair trial.

Both men had their convictions and sentences upheld on appeal in June and July 
this year respectively, and in the government's haste to see more war crimes 
convicts executed, both have now had their appeals process sped up. The UN has 
stated the ICT fails to meet international fair trial standards.

The 2 men will have their review petitions, which are effectively their last 
appeals, heard on 2 November. If their convictions are upheld there is no legal 
way to overturn their death sentences.

"Their trial and appeals process were clearly flawed and since they now face 
the death penalty the ultimate miscarriage of justice may be only days away," 
said David Griffiths, Amnesty International's South Asia Research Director.

"The crimes committed during the war of independence were horrific, but the 
death sentences only perpetuate violence. The lack of fair trials makes the use 
of the death penalty even more disturbing."

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's defence team highlighted serious flaws in his 
appeal hearing. In one instance, the Supreme Court failed to dismiss the 
statement of a witness known as "PW-6". The witness testified that a person who 
could corroborate his statement was dead when in fact the individual was very 
much alive and had even submitted a signed affidavit to the court to prove it.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed's appeal to the Supreme Court failed to dismiss the 
prosecution's claim that he had instigated his subordinates to commit human 
rights abuses, when no subordinates had either been identified or testified on 
record.

Almost all of the ICT's verdicts since it was established in 2009 have come 
against members of opposition parties, mainly individuals associated with the 
Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Serious crimes were also committed by the pro-independence forces, but no one 
has been investigated or brought to justice for them.

As of today, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution.

Background:

The ICT was set up by the government in 2010 to try people involved in crimes 
committed during Bangladesh's Independence War in 1971. At that time, there 
were mass killings, rape and forced migration perpetrated by the Pakistan army 
and their collaborators who were fighting against forces seeking independence.

Amnesty International welcomed the government's move to investigate the mass 
violations and bring those responsible to justice, but insisted that the 
accused should receive fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.

To date, some of the trials have been based on flawed evidence, the death 
penalty has been used, and some of those convicted have been executed.

(source: Amnesty International)

SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Pakistani heroin trafficker executed in Saudi

Saudi Arabia executed a convicted Pakistani heroin smuggler Tuesday, bringing 
the number of people put to death this year to 138.

Nimat Allah Mola Baksh had been found guilty of smuggling the drugs inside his 
body, the interior ministry said in a statement.

He was put to death in the kingdom's east.

Most Saudi executions are carried out by beheading with a sword, in what the 
ministry says is a deterrent.

Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of the trials.

They also say the death penalty should not be applied in drug cases.

According to AFP tallies, Baksh was the 138th Saudi or foreigner put to death 
by the kingdom this year, compared with 87 in 2014.

London-based Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia had the world's 
3rd-highest number of executions last year, far behind China and Iran, and 
ahead of Iraq and the United States.

Under the kingdom's strict Islamic legal code, murder, drug trafficking, armed 
robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.

(source: Ary News)

*****************

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Who is Saudi Arabia's most vocal Shia critic sentenced to 
death and crucifixion for dissent?

The image of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr with his distinctive grey beard and turban has 
adorned placards and banners during protests in eastern Saudi Arabia for over a 
decade, if not longer, even if it is only the sentencing of his nephew, Ali 
Mohammed al-Nimr, to death and crucifixion that has catapulted the elderly Shia 
cleric onto the global stage.

Nimr was arrested in 2012 after supporting protests that were by then raging in 
Qatif and al-Awamiyah and was shot in the leg by police. His arrest and later 
conviction on a range of charges - including "encouraging foreign meddling" in 
the kingdom and insulting its rulers - caused days of rioting during which 3 
protesters were killed.

On 25 October, it was revealed that Nimr's final appeal against his death 
sentence had been denied and he could be put to death at any time. As is custom 
in Saudi Arabia, the authorities do not reveal dates of executions until after 
they have taken place. Nimr's nephew, Ali, also had his appeal denied in 
September and could similarly soon face his sentence of beheading followed by 
crucifixion.

British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to raise the issue with Saudi 
Arabia, one of Britain's biggest trading partners and allies in the Middle 
East, after being asked about Ali in a television interview. Labour leader 
Jeremy Corbyn mentioned the case in his inaugural conference speech and TV 
pundit Bill Maher shared IBTimes UK's story on the case with his 3.23 million 
Twitter followers.

The publicity surrounding the case prompted Saudi Arabia to angrily call for 
the international community to desist from intervening in its judicial system. 
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK, Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, recently 
warned that the criticism could damage Riyadh's dealings with Britain over 
trade and counter-terrorism. The fate of Ali and his uncle has also led to 
increasing scrutiny of Britain's business deals with Saudi.

It is widely thought that Ali, now 21 but 17 when he was arrested and sentenced 
in 2012, was made an example of because of his uncle, who has for decades been 
one of the Saudi government's most vocal critics from the country's restive 
Shia minority that dominates its oil rich eastern province close to Bahrain. 
Saudi Arabia has long accused Nimr and other Shia leaders of being agents of 
Iran, Riyadh's most bitter ideological enemy.

Jailed 8 times

Nimr rejected the terms of a landmark amnesty in 1993, which was signed between 
the Saudi authorities and Shia leaders, and permitted the release of prisoners 
and a return from exile for prominent activists who were living in Syria, Iran 
and the West. Following the deal, there was a return to violence that 
culminated in the 1996 bombing of the al-Khobar Towers, killing 19 US soldiers, 
which was blamed on Hezbollah al-Hejaz, a Shia extremist group.

Between 2003 and 2008, Nimr was jailed eight times for his involvement in 
protests and his fiery sermons against Saudi's rulers in Riyadh. In 2008, Nimr 
met US officials in a meeting later, revealed by WikiLeaks, arguing he was 
portrayed as extreme by Riyadh despite being committed to free and fair 
elections. Despite this conciliatory tone, he also "reasserted his ardent 
opposition to what he described as the authoritarianism of the reactionary 
al-Saud regime, stating he would always support 'the people' in any conflict 
with the government".

The report continued: "Al-Nimr is typically regarded as a second-tier political 
player in the Eastern Province [but is] currently gaining popularity locally, 
particularly with young people, as his words appeal to those disaffected by the 
general economic malaise experienced by Saudi Arabia's lower classes.

"Meanwhile, at a national and international level, with everyone from Salafi 
sheikhs to regional intelligence agencies, al-Nimr's words have gained him 
increased notoriety. It would seem his plan will be to continue forcefully 
calling for reform and creating unrest, endearing him to the disaffected, and 
fitting with his vision of instability as being the only catalyst for real 
change in the Kingdom."

Little surprise then that when the Arab Spring swept across the Middle East and 
North Africa in January 2011, Saudi's Shia saw their opportunity to seize the 
moment. In 2009, when many of his fellow clerics in Qatif and Awamiyah had 
reached an accord with King Abdullah, Nimr refused to decry the ongoing 
protests and was forced to go into hiding. But he returned on 25 February 2011, 
giving a speech at a small mosque near Qatif.

"With this speech and the participation in protests, al-Nimr positioned himself 
at the forefront of the protest movement. Nimr had become a symbol of [it] and 
emotions ran high," wrote Toby Matthiesen, senior research fellow in the 
International Relations of the Middle East at the Middle East Centre in Oxford 
and author of one of the few books on the Saudi Shia movement, The Other 
Saudis: Shiism, Dissent And Sectarianism.

He was duly arrested in 2012 and in October 2014, Saudi Arabia's Specialized 
Criminal Court found Nimr guilty of a host of crimes including, among others, 
incitement of vandalism and sectarian strife, failing to obey or pledge 
allegiance to then king Abdullah, calling for the collapse of the state and 
insulting relatives and companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The court was set 
up in 2008 to handle terrorism cases.

Pardon is only hope

Now his final appeal against the verdict has been refused, Nimr's only hope - 
like his nephew - is a pardon from King Salman. Even if this were to happen, 
though, both Nimr and Ali would likely have their sentences commuted to life 
imprisonment - a harsh sentence given the charges both men faced.

Matthiesen points out that while Saudi Arabia executes dozens of people a year, 
it has been decades since the kingdom has executed a political prisoner. 
Nonetheless, the Nimr cases come at arguably the worst time for Sunni-Shia 
relations in Saudi and the wider Middle East for decades. Saudi Arabia's Shia 
community has been hit by a brutal spate of suicide bombings, while Riyadh's 
relations with Tehran are at historic lows.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen - which pits a Sunni Arab coalition led 
by Riyadh against a Shia Houthi allegedly backed by Iran - and the Syria 
crisis, where Iran backs Shia Bashar al-Assad and the Saudi Sunni Islamist 
rebels who seek to overthrow him, has kick-started a new Cold War between the 2 
superpowers of the Middle East. This has only been compounded by Tehran's 
rapprochement with the US and Europe.

Indeed, King Salman may be more repressive than King Abdullah, but both he and 
his war is popular with Sunni Saudis and particularly with the hard-line 
Wahhabi clerics that are the al-Saud family power base. Shia Saudis, considered 
to be proxies of Iran, are no longer only considered heathens by the Wahhabis - 
but traitors.

On the question of whether the publicity that the Nimr case has attracted is 
positive for the uncle and nephew facing a horrific death, Matthiesen says it 
is. In little over eight weeks, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr and Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr 
have become household names, with Ali's father authoring opinion pieces in 
Newsweek, among others, and interviewed all over the world.

Unlike those from the Sunni community who have called for political change - or 
even those who have joined Islamic State (Isis) or al-Qaeda and returned to the 
kingdom to be housed in correctional facilities - the Nimrs have no tribal or 
familial links that would encourage the authorities to take mercy. Apart from 
the attention of the wider world, they are are totally alone. Matthiesen added: 
"I think [the publicity] is their only hope."

(source: AhlulBayt News Agency)