Saudi Arabia executes 47 in one day, including Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr

Saudi Arabia's state television channel shows an image of Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr on January 2, 2016. Jon Gambrell/AP Photo

RIYADH // Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including Al Qaeda detainees and prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr, who rallied protests against the government.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh said the executions were carried out in line with Sharia and the need to safeguard the kingdom’s security. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Foreign Minister, said Abu Dhabi fully supported the decision to execute the prisoners, saying that the measures represent a clear message against terrorism and those who provoke strife.

Bahrain, which has itself faced unrest from its Shiite population, also backed Riyadh in “all deterrent and needed measures it takes to confront violence and extremism”.

The execution of Al Qaeda militants convicted over deadly bombings and shootings in Saudi Arabia raised concerns over revenge attacks. The extremist group’s branch in Yemen, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, threatened violence against Saudi security forces last month if they carried out executions of members of the global network. Influential Shiite figures and groups across the region were also swift to condemn Al Nimr’s execution.

The interior ministry announced the names of all 47 people executed in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Of those executed, 45 were Saudi citizens, one was from Chad and another was from Egypt.

The four Shiites executed had been convicted in connection with a series of violent protests that erupted in the east in 2011 and 2012, in which several protesters and police officers were killed.

Al Qaeda militants executed had been convicted of taking part in a wave of deadly attacks that killed foreigners and Saudis. One of the executed was Faris Al Shuwail, a leading ideologue in Al Qaeda’s Saudi branch who was arrested in August 2004 during a massive crackdown on the group following the series of deadly attacks.

Saudi Arabia said a royal court order was issued to implement the sentences after all appeals had been exhausted. The executions took place in the capital, Riyadh, and 12 other cities and towns, the interior ministry statement said.

Nearly all executions carried out in Saudi Arabia are by beheading with a sword.

Interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour Al Turki said the executions were carried out inside prisons and not in public. He described the executions as an example of Saudi Arabia’s tough response to terrorism.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari strongly condemned Al Nimr’s execution and summoned Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to protest.

In Iraq, influential Shiite militia Asaib Ahl Al Haq called on the government to reconsider allowing Saudi Arabia to keep its newly reopened embassy in Baghdad; the Saudi embassy was reopened on Friday for the first time in more nearly 25 years.

In Lebanon, a top Shiite cleric condemned Al Nimr’s execution, describing it as “a grave mistake that could have been avoided with a royal amnesty that would have helped reduce sectarian tensions in the region.” Sheikh Abdul-Amir Kabalan, deputy head of the influential Supreme Shiite Islamic Council that is the main religious body for Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shiites, said the executions “will have repercussions in the coming days.”

Hizbollah issued a statement calling Al Nimr’s execution an “assassination” and a “ugly crime.”

Anticipating protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, where minority Saudi Shiites are concentrated, Saudi activists there called for peaceful rallies.

Al Nimr, who was in his 50s, had been a vocal critic of Bahrain’s monarchy, which forcibly suppressed protests in 2011 with the help of Saudi troops. He was popular among disgruntled Shiite youth in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Al Nimr never denied the political charges against him, but maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence.

At his trial, he was asked if he disapproved of the Al Saud ruling family after speeches in which he spoke out forcefully against former interior minister and late Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdelaziz.

“If injustice stops against Shiites in the east, then (at that point) I can have a different opinion,” the cleric responded, according to his brother Mohammed Al Nimr.

A video on YouTube in 2012 showed Al Nimr making a speech celebrating the 2012 death of Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz.

Al Nimr’s brother said that the executions came as a “big shock” because “we thought the authorities could adopt a political approach to settle matters without bloodshed.” He urged people to “adopt peaceful means when expressing their anger.”

Mohammed’s son Ali, the cleric’s nephew, is also facing execution, but his name was not among those listed Saturday.

After listing the names and images of those executed, Saudi state television showed black-and-white footage of previous terror attacks in the kingdom, one showing bodies in a mosque after an attack.

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in two decades, according to several advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide.

* Associated Press, Wam, Reuters, Agence France-Presse