A man who was arrested and sentenced to death for taking part in anti-government protests as a teen in Saudi Arabia has had his sentence commuted.
Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zaher, youth from Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, were also detained separately on charges stemming from their participation in anti-government Shiite protests over discrimination that rocked the country’s eastern province in 2011-2012.
Nimr has served more than nine years in jail since his arrest. His sentence was commuted on Sunday, while Marhoun’s and Zaher’s were commuted in November 2020, the HRC told Reuters.
Breaking news: Ali al Nimr – who was arrested and sentenced to death for attending a pro-democracy protest as a teen in Saudi Arabia – has had his sentence reduced to 10 years by the Specialized Criminal Court today 1/@ESOHumanRightsE pic.twitter.com/iKIgAgGK5N
— Reprieve (@Reprieve) February 7, 2021
on Sunday The Specialized Criminal Court reduced Ali al-Nimr’s sentence to 10 years in jail; according to human rights group Reprieve.
His father, Mohammed al-Nimr; who attended the hearing in Riyadh; said his son; should be released in eight or nine months after having already spent more than nine years “of his youth and part of his childhood” in prison.
Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent opposition cleric Shiekh Nimr al-Nimr; whose execution sparked Shiite demonstrations from Bahrain to Pakistan; was arrested in 2012 at age 17, according to Human Rights Watch. The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh, which handles terrorism trials, sentenced him to death
The move comes nearly a year after Saudi Arabia ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by minors; with the possible exception of terrorism-related crimes. The royal decree sets a maximum sentence of 10 years at a juvenile detention facility; for anyone convicted of a crime committed while a minor. It orders prosecutors to review cases as well as drop punishments for those who have already served that time.