Sun May 10, 2015 5:47
Senior Cleric: Execution of Sheikh Nimr Means End of Saudi Regime
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940220001048

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior member of Iran's Assembly of Experts warned the
Riyadh government that the execution of the prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh
Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, would put an end to Al Saud dynasty.

"Some Saudi media have announced that the Riyadh government plans to execute
Sheikh Nimr by May 14; the Saudi government should know that taking such a
move will put an end to its shameful rule," Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami
told FNA on Sunday.

Khatami, who is a presiding board member of Iran's Assembly of Experts,
warned the Saudi government that bloodshed in Yemen and killing a religious
scholar is tantamount to following the path of pharaohs and blasphemers.

Ayatollah Khatami called on religious seminaries and intellectuals of the
Muslim world to prevent continued crimes by the Saudi regime.

On Saturday, several Saudi rights activists warned Al Saud that Sheikh
Nimr's execution would set fire to Saudi Arabia.

"The Saudi people will ask for a halt in the execution of the death sentence
(for Sheikh Nimr) by staging peaceful rallies and protests," Sheikh Abbas
al-Qatifi told FNA.

Stressing the strong opposition of Saudi Arabia's Eastern province to the
execution of the Shiite cleric, he said, "The case of Sheikh Nimr is a Saudi
show played by the Saudi princes at the order of the US and the Zionist
regime as part of a plot in the country and even other Islamic countries."

Also in relevant remarks on Saturday, Abdolhadi al-Sattari, another Saudi
rights activist, told FNA that the Saudi officials have resorted to
terrorists to suppress the Shiites inside and outside Saudi Arabia.

He warned that the Eastern province's people will take revenge for the blood
of their martyrs.

Also other rights activists said that the Saudi youth have condemned plans
to execute Sheikh Nimr and are preparing themselves for a big revolution
against the country's cruel rulers.

An informed Saudi source told FNA on Wednesday that Riyadh planned to
execute Sheikh Nimr on May 14.

"The Saudi regime plans to execute Sheikh Nimr on the death anniversary of
Nayef bin Abdullah, the former Saudi crown prince," the source, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of his information, said.

The source said the Saudi rulers know that the move would engulf the
monarchy in the flames of unrest and they might have to pay a heavy price
for the execution of Sheikh Nimr, and they have prepared riot combat plans
after consultations with several western security experts.

Nimr was attacked and arrested in the Qatif region in July 2012. His arrest
sparked widespread protests in the kingdom leaving several people dead.

On October 15, 2014, Nimr was sentenced to death at the Specialized Criminal
Court in Riyadh. In reaction to the sentence, people took to streets in the
city of Qatif in Eastern Province to condemn the move.

Amnesty International has called the death sentence "appalling", saying the
verdict should be quashed.

Nimr was given the death sentence on charges of disturbing the kingdom's
security and making anti-government speeches.

He is the Imam of al-Awamiyya Mosque in Qatif and has spent most of his
two-year detention in solitary confinement at the al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh,
according to Amnesty International.

Protesters have staged rallies worldwide to condemn the death sentence
handed down to Sheikh Nimr, and have voiced solidarity with the dissident
Saudi religious scholar.

There have been numerous demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern
Province since 2011, with the protestors calling for political reform and an
end to widespread discrimination. Several people have been killed and many
others have been injured or arrested during the demonstrations.

The Persian Gulf monarchy has come under fire from international human
rights organizations, which have criticized it for failing to address the
rights situation in the kingdom. Critics say the country shows
zero-tolerance toward dissent.

In January, Joe Stork, the deputy director of the Middle East and North
Africa division for Human Right Watch, slammed Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on
activists in the kingdom.

"Saudi Arabia should free imprisoned activists and take other concrete,
visible steps to show the government is willing to improve its abysmal
rights record," Stork said.

Stork also questioned the election of Saudi Arabia as a member of the Human
Rights Council in November last year, saying that Riyadh has a record of
repression and its membership is not warranted.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that does not allow any election.