Pakistani scholars condemn Nimr death sentence

On Thursday, the clerics took to the streets of Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi and denounced the Saudi government for issuing the verdict against Nimr.

They described the death sentence given to the dissident Saudi cleric as politically motivated. They also blamed Saudi Arabia for the creation of Takfiri terrorist groups such as the ISIL.

On October 19, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Saudi Embassy in London and protested the Saudi court ruling against Nimr.

The gathering came a day after the supporters of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement staged a protest rally outside the Saudi Embassy in the capital, Sana’a, demanding Nimr’s release.

Nimr was sentenced to death by the so-called Specialized Criminal Court in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on October 15. In reaction to the sentence, people took to streets in the city of Qatif in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and condemned the ruling.

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

Nimr has been given the death sentence on charges of harming the kingdom’s security and making anti-government speeches.

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

HK