Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the death sentence passed this year on Shi'ite Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who had called for pro-democracy demonstrations and whose arrest in 2012 spurred protests in which three died.
Nimr's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, told Reuters that the sentence had been upheld after hearings that took place without his lawyers or family members being given prior notice. His life now hangs on the possibility of a pardon from King Salman.
Nimr and six other Saudi Shi'ites, including his nephew, Mohammed al-Nimr's son, Ali, have been sentenced to die and then have their bodies publicly displayed in the most severe penalty available to judges in the strict Sunni majority kingdom. [Reuters] Read more
