Saudi Shia Cleric Ayatollah Nimr Appears Before a Saudi Judge

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al Nimr appeared on Monday before a Saudi judge, frail but defiant.

The Saudi cleric was attacked, injured and arrested by Saudi security forces en route to his house in the Qatif region of Eastern province on July 8, 2012, after he had called for the release of jailed protesters and all the prisoners of conscience.

 
His arrest prompted widespread condemnation across the Muslim world as it was perceived as a clear manifestation of Saudi Arabia' sectarian stance against Shia Islam.

 
Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi censured Riyadh’s move to crackdown on Shia clerics across the country and warned such policy would only generate more violence.

 
“They (Saudi authorities) have arrested a number of senior Shia [figures] and even a prosecutor has demanded execution for one of them who is a renowned scholar called Sheikh al-Nimr,” he noted earlier this month.

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