Urge Saudi Arabia to cancel death penalty for Ali al-Nimr
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on the British premier to urge Saudi Arabia to commute the death sentence of Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, a young Saudi man, over his alleged role in anti-regime protests in the Arab kingdom.
“As you may be aware, Ali has now exhausted all his appeals and could be executed any day – in a particularly horrific manner, which involves beheading and the public display or ‘crucifixion’ of the body,” said Corbyn in letter to David Cameron on Friday, adding that “numerous fair trial violations” appeared in Nimr’s trial.
Corbyn urged the premier to raise the case directly with his Saudi counterparts and “request that they commute the unjust and horrific sentence… which violates any number of international laws.”
The Labor Party leader also rejected the Ministry of Justice’s bid to provide services to Saudi Arabia’s prisons.
“Will you step in to terminate the Ministry of Justice’s bid to provide services to the Saudi prisons system – the very body, I should stress, which will be responsible for carrying out Ali’s execution?,” Corbyn further wrote.
He highlighted the urgency of Nimr’s case, saying that “the secrecy of the Saudi system means that he could face execution at any time.”
“There is therefore no time to spare in taking this up with the Saudi authorities, if we are to prevent a grave injustice,” he wrote in conclusion.
Nimr, the nephew of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, was arrested during an anti-government protest in Qatif, Eastern Province, back in 2012 when he was only 17 years old. He was later convicted of alleged criminal activities and handed down a death penalty by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court in May 2015.
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