Nimr an-Nimr

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Nimr Bāqir Amīn an-Nimr ( Arabic نمر باقر أمين النمر Nimr Bāqir Amīn an-Nimr ; * 1959 in al-Awamia ; † January 2, 2016 in Saudi Arabia ) was a Saudi Arabian Shiite cleric ( Ayatollah ) and civil rights activist in the eastern province of Ash-Sharqiyya .

He was a leader in anti-government protests in 2011 . An-Nimr was sentenced to death for riot and other offenses . His execution sparked violent protests by Shiites in Iran and other countries and led to a marked deterioration in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Life

He attended elementary and secondary school in his birthplace. After graduating from school in 1980, An-Nimr spent a total of ten years in Iran studying Islamic scholarship. He then continued his studies in Syria.

An-Nimr was a well-known Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia; he was also popular in Bahrain . For years he was Friday preacher in the Shiite city of al-Awamia and carried the title Ayatollah . At the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, Nimr led anti-government protests . At the 2011 demonstrations, he explicitly called for non-violence . Al-Nimr denounced the discrimination against the Shiites in the country and called for them to have full civil rights. Nimr was an avowed critic of the Saud royal family . In October 2011, at least 14 people were killed in clashes between police and members of the Shiite minority in the east of the Kingdom.

He was injured when he was arrested on July 8, 2012 in al-Awamia - pictures of an-Nimr lying on a back seat covered with a blood-stained white cloth were circulated. His arrest led to renewed demonstrations in which at least two protesters were shot dead by security forces. He went on a hunger strike while in detention.

Protest in Tehran against the execution of Nimr al-Nimrs

In November 2014 he was sentenced to death for inciting rebellion , sedition , vandalism on the Baqi Cemetery and insubordination against Muslim authorities in Qatif , the Shiite stronghold of Saudi Arabia and port city on the Persian Gulf. In early November 2014 there were contradicting reports in the Arab press about a pardon. On January 2, 2016, he was executed with 46 other people sentenced to death .

background

The Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia, where Sunni Islam in its rigid Wahhabi interpretation is the state religion , is subject to systematic discrimination. The reason for this is not just religious differences. The Shiites are collectively suspected by the Saudi Arabian authorities of sympathizing with Iran, which is Saudi Arabia's political arch-rival in the Gulf region .

In February 2012, Nimr's then 17-year-old nephew, Ali an-Nimr , was arrested. He is accused of having taken part in demonstrations armed. Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to death. In September 2015, an appeals court upheld Ali al-Nimr's guilty verdict, which has been widely criticized.

Reactions to the execution

In response to the execution of Nimr Bāqir an-Nimr, a group of Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran that same day and partially set it on fire. The Iranian Foreign Office spokesman Jaber Ansari emphasized that "instead of dealing with the (IS) terrorists who are endangering the region and the whole world, the Saudis are having a personality like Al-Nimr executed". As a result, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on January 3, 2016 and requested all Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours. On January 4th, Bahrain and Sudan followed suit and also severed diplomatic relations with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassador from Iran and reduced their representation in Iran and the number of Iranian diplomats residing in the UAE.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , Seid al-Hussein , criticized the execution of the death penalty. Neither the Shiite clergy nor other of the 47 executed people had met the strict standards of international law for the death penalty, he said in Geneva.

Iran's highest state leader, Ali Khamene'i , stressed that "the unjustly shed blood of this martyr will very soon have consequences" [...] and "take the hand of God vengeance on the Saudi Arabian leadership".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Gudrun Harrer: The Saudi judge plays with Shiite fire. In: derstandard.at. October 16, 2014, accessed January 2, 2016 .
  2. Tomas Avenarius : Riyadh announces iron fist policy. In: sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 5, 2011, accessed on October 6, 2011 .
  3. Susanne Koelbl: Controversial judgment in Saudi Arabia: The equalizer should die. In: spiegel.de. November 21, 2014, accessed January 3, 2016.
  4. Saudi Arabia executes 47 people convicted of terrorism. In: welt.de. January 2, 2016, accessed January 2, 2016 .
  5. Saudi Arabia executes 47 people for terrorist offenses. In: focus.de. January 2, 2016, accessed January 2, 2016 .
  6. Saudi Arabia executes 47 prisoners. In: sueddeutsche.de. January 2, 2016, accessed January 2, 2016 .
  7. Court ruling: Saudi Arabia wants to behead and crucify young opposition activists. In: spiegel.de. September 24, 2015, accessed January 3, 2016.
  8. Martin Gehlen: Minor Saudi sentenced to death after demonstration. In: Abendblatt.de. September 25, 2015, accessed January 2, 2016 .
  9. Demonstrators storm the Saudi embassy in Tehran. In: sueddeutsche.de. January 2, 2016, accessed January 2, 2016.
  10. Dispute over mass executions: Saudi Arabia breaks off relations with Iran. In: spiegel.de. January 3, 2016, accessed January 3, 2016.
  11. Foreign Minister announces the Kingdom's cutting its diplomatic relations with Iran, withdrawing its personnel within 48 hrs. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed January 4, 2016 .
  12. Bahrain breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran. In: spiegel.de. January 4, 2016, accessed January 4, 2016.
  13. UAE downgrades diplomatic representation in Iran. In: Gulf News . January 4, 2016, accessed January 4, 2016 .
  14. UN see international law violated. In: zeit.de. Zeit Online , January 3, 2016, accessed January 3, 2016 .
  15. Execution of clergy: Iran's leader threatens Saudi Arabia with “God's vengeance”. In: spiegel.de. January 3, 2016, accessed January 3, 2016.