Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday 47 people among which was prominent Shia scholar Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr have been executed, Saudi media reported.
Sheikh al-Nimr had been active in demanding more liberty, constitutional changes and an end to sectarian discrimination in Saudi Arabia. His arrest, detention and execution were set against the backdrop of the increasing violence and authoritarianism of the Saudi regime that seeks to marginalize and abuse minority groups in particular.
Sheikh Nimr was attacked and arrested in Qatif in July 2012, and sentenced to death on October 15, 2014 on charges of undermining the kingdom’s security, making anti-government speeches, and defending political prisoners. He had denied the accusations.
Iran had repeatedly stressed that ‘provocative acts’ by Saudi Arabia against its own people will be detrimental to the establishment itself and have heavy price for the Saudis.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had also called on Saudi Arabia to halt Nimr’s execution.
Given the fact that Saudi Arabia went ahead with multiple executions in defiance of a consensus amongst international human rights organizations that many of them rest on unsafe verdicts, it remains to be seen if the UN would reconsider Saudi Arabia's position on the UN Human Rights Council.
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