A Saudi court on Wednesday sentenced prominent Shia cleric and anti-government protest leader Nimr al-Nimr to death after convicting him of sedition, his family said.
The verdict risks a further escalation of tensions with Saudi Arabia’s minority Shia community. Nimr was a driving force behind demonstrations against the Sunni authorities that erupted in 2011 in the oil-flush east, alongside a Shia-led protest movement in neighbouring Bahrain.
The cleric was also convicted of seeking “foreign meddling” in the country, a reference to Iran, his brother Mohammed al-Nimr wrote on Twitter. He was found guilty of “disobeying” the kingdom’s rulers and taking up arms against security forces, his brother said.
Nimr’s family accused the court of ignoring the sheik’s “peaceful and non violent approach,” saying the case had caused “social and political discontent”.