Saudi Arabia has executed 47 people for terrorism, including
the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Most of those executed on
Saturday were involved in a series of attacks carried out by al-Qaida from
2003-06, the interior ministry said.
It also detained hundreds of members of its Shi’ite minority
after protests in 2011-13, during which several policemen were killed in
shooting and petrol bomb attacks. Several of those held had been sentenced to
death.
The interior ministry statement began with Koranic verses
justifying the use of execution and state television showed footage of the
aftermath of al-Qaida attacks in the last decade. Saudi grand mufti Sheikh
Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh appeared on television soon after to describe the
executions as just.
Iran’s Shia leadership has warned that executing Nimr “would cost Saudi Arabia dearly”, but that didn’t stop the Government from executing him this morning.
