These are not small stuff. This can have serious consequences, says Cecilie Hellestveit, senior advisor at the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI).
Saudi Arabia executes more and more people, and by 2015 executed Saudi Arabia 157 people, a sharp increase from 90 in 2014. Thus, so it may seem that everything is as usual when Saudi Arabia executed 47 people this morning .
But today the strictly religious kingdom went even a step further. For among those executed was the senior Shiite scholars, Nimr al-Nimr (56). A well-known religious leader throughout the Shiite world.
– Nimr was a non-violent activist who was extremely strong and clear. Nimr had great hero status because of his courage when he spoke the Saudi royal family opposite, says Hellestveit.
strong reactions
The execution of Nimr evokes strong reactions throughout the Middle East today. Enraged Shiites have protested in countries like Iraq, Pakistan, India and outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in London. In Bahrain police used tear gas against Shiite demonstrators.
One ayatollah in Iran, Ahmad Khatami, said that the Saudi royal family will “be wiped out.”
“I see no reason to doubt that his pure blood is going to color the Saudi royal house and wipe them from history books,” said Khatami, according to reporters. Khatami has close links to the authorities in Iran and was appointed by the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2012.
Can have serious consequences
The execution of Nimr can now have major consequences for the entire Middle East, said Hellestveit.
– Middle East is in a range of sensitive political process this spring. This is very counterproductive from the Saudi regime, and could create far more turbulence in the Middle East, said Hellestveit.
– I think the execution of Nimr will make it far more difficult to achieve a peace agreement in Syria. Not because of the execution itself, but because the execution is seen as a highly symbolic act directed against Shiites. This will increase the sectarian, said Hellestveit.
– I think the coming months will be crucial. This execution has certainly not made it easier to create peace in the Middle East, said Hellestveit.
