S. Arabia Intensifies Crackdown on Opposition
(FNA)- Saudi Arabia has increased clam down and detention of activists and opposition forces in the country after issuing a death sentence for prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on October 15.
The Palestinian daily al-Manar reported on Saturday that after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was convicted on a host of vague charges, based largely on his peaceful criticism of Saudi officials and was sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court and the people's wrath at the ruling, the government in Riyadh and the Saudi princes have voiced concern and ordered intensified detention of people.
Al-Manar reported that the Saudi intelligence services in collaboration with their colleagues in the Persian Gulf Arab littoral states have started massive prosecution and detention operations in Saudi Arabia, and the arrested people are intensely being interrogated in the detention centers of these countries.
Reports on Friday said that Saudi Arabia has arrested a Sunni cleric for his support for proximity among Islamic sects.
Saudi security forces on Friday detained Hassan Farhan al-Maliki, who follows up a stance on religious issues in contradiction to Wahabbis.
Saudi and Salafi extremists have always criticized the Sunni cleric’s religious ideas and repeatedly brought different charges against him. They have also emphasized that Saudi security forces must detain Maliki.
In televised interviews, debates and messages in social networks, Maliki has repeatedly said that Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, is the hero of the Arab world.
He also called for putting an end to discrimination against Shiite Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
The clampdown comes in the backdrop of heightened tensions in the oil-rich kingdom following a Saudi court ruling earlier this week that upheld an earlier verdict for the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr
Saudi authorities arrested Nimr al-Nimr in June 2012 and held him for eight months before bringing charges, although the Interior Ministry had labeled him an “instigator of discord and rioting” after his arrest. Officials claimed that he resisted arrest and rammed a security force’s vehicle, leading to a gun battle in which al-Nimr was wounded. Purported photos of the incident released by the local media show the wounded sheikh slumped in the back seat of a car wearing a bloodied white robe. A family member told Human Rights Watch that al-Nimr did not own a gun and that they dispute the claim that he resisted arrest.
Local activists and family members told Human Rights Watch that al-Nimr supported only peaceful protests and eschewed all violent opposition to the government. A 2011 BBC report quoted him as supporting “the roar of the word against authorities rather than weapons … the weapon of the word is stronger than bullets, because authorities will profit from a battle of weapons.” In another video available on YouTube, al-Nimr states, “It is not permitted to use weapons and spread corruption in society.”
Local activists told Human Rights Watch that authorities held al-Nimr in an isolation cell in the Security Forces Prison Hospital in Riyadh for much of his time in detention. Family members who visited him said that he was held in a windowless cell measuring 4-by-4 meters. Authorities did not allow al-Nimr to speak freely with visiting family members for the first four months, but since November 2013 immediate family members have been able to see him in his cell for an hour every two weeks.
Saudi Arabia systematically discriminates against its Shiite citizens, who constitute 10 to 15 percent of the population. This discrimination reduces Shiites’ access to public education and government employment. They do not receive equal treatment under the justice system, specially with regard to religious freedom. Shiites rarely receive permission to build mosques and, unlike their Sunni counterparts, do not receive government funds for religious activities.
Al-Nimr’s arrest caused demonstrations in Awamiyya, a Shiite village in the Qatif district that has been the site of anti-government demonstrations since 2011. Media reported that security forces shot and killed two demonstrators on the evening of al-Nimr’s arrest.
The local activists, who asked not to be named for fear of arrest, said that al-Nimr had a strong following among Shiite youth because of his outspoken criticism of government policies and advocacy of greater rights for the Shiite.