Father of Saudi youth on death row asks king for clemency

In an interview with AFP, Mohammed al-Nimr said he hoped the king would save his son

Ali Mohammad al Nimr. PHOTO: GOLBALPOLITIK

RIYADH:
The father of a Saudi youth facing execution for taking part in pro-reform protests appealed to King Salman on Wednesday to spare his life.

The sentence against Ali al-Nimr, only 17 when he was arrested in February 2012, has drawn international condemnation over his young age at the time and allegations that he was tortured into making a confession.

In an interview with AFP, Mohammed al-Nimr said he hoped the king would save his son.

"We hope that the king will not sign" the execution order, Nimr said, after Saudi Arabia's highest court confirmed the death sentence, leaving his son's fate in the hands of the king.

Nimr warned that if his son is put to death the minority Shia community could react violently, something he does not want to happen.

"We don't need that; we don't need even one drop of blood," he said.
The youth is a nephew of Nimr al-Nimr, a Shia religious leader who is also on death row.

Read: Saudi Arabia preparing to behead and crucify 21-year-old Shia activist

Mohammed al-Nimr, a Dammam businessman, was in Riyadh to visit his jailed brother for the Muslim feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha which falls on Thursday.

Nimr al-Nimr was a driving force behind demonstrations that began four years ago in Eastern Province.


Most of Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia's Shias live in the east, and have complained of marginalisation.

Ali al-Nimr's father admitted that his son, then a high school student, had joined thousands of other people in protest.

Read: France urges Saudi Arabia to cancel death penalty for young Shia

But he said he is innocent of numerous other charges including burglary, attacking police and using a Molotov cocktail.

France's foreign ministry appealed Wednesday for a stay of execution and expressed concern about the case of the youth, "condemned to death even though he was a minor at the time of the incident," a spokesman said.

France opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, the spokesman added.

Read: Protesters call on Saudi Arabia not to execute top Shia cleric

On Tuesday, UN rights experts also called for Ali al-Nimr's life to be spared.

A statement said the youth he was reportedly tortured, coerced into a confession and denied adequate access to a lawyer before and during a trial that did not meet international standards.

"Any judgement imposing the death penalty upon persons who were children at the time of the offence, and their execution, are incompatible with Saudi Arabia's international obligations," the experts said.
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