Release of young Saudi Shiite Ali al-Nimr after ten years in prison

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was jailed at 17 for participating in protests against the Saudi regime in 2012. HO reprieve.org/AFP/File

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His death sentence had stirred up a wave of indignation.

Ali al-Nimr, from the kingdom's Shiite minority, was sentenced to beheading after participating in protests when he was only 17 years old.

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Ali al-Nimr was arrested in 2012, a time of unrest and protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, home to the kingdom's Shiite minority.

Against the backdrop of tension between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, these troubles have a regional resonance, especially as the young Ali is the nephew of an important Saudi Shiite dignitary, Ayatollah Al-Nimr, arrested at the same time. moment.

In the trials that followed, the uncle, nephew and other Shiite demonstrators were sentenced to death.

Ayatollah Al-Nimr was beheaded in January 2016, an execution that led to an

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In recent years, human rights organizations have mobilized in favor of the nephew, Ali, whose execution has on several occasions been considered imminent.

In 2020, Riyadh announced that the death penalty would no longer apply to juvenile convicts at the time of the crime.

Last February, the sentence was commuted to ten years in prison and this Wednesday Ali al-Nimr was freed.

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• Saudi Arabia

• Iran

• Human rights