Alwaght- Muslims in different countries commemorated the first anniversary of execution of top opposition leader Sheikh Nimr by Saudi regime.
Shiite Muslims in different countries held demonstrations, events, and ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the day Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr was executed by Saudi regime after years of fighting for justice and equality.
Sheikh Nimr was born 21 June 1959 in al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. He studied religious sciences in Iran and Syria. As of 2008 he entered political activities against the ruling regime of Saudi Arabia demanding equal rights for the Shiite minority of which he was a member.
In 2009 he was arrested along with 35 other people after suggesting that if the rights of Shiite minority were not met, the Eastern Province should secede.
During the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests, al-Nimr called on protestors to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" rather than violence and predicted the collapse of the Al Saud regime if repression continued.
On 8 July 2012 Saudi police shot al-Nimr in the leg and arrested him in what police described as an "exchange of gunfire". Saudi police also fired into a crowd of thousands who protested al-Nimr's arrest, killing two people.
On 15 October 2014 the outspoken cleric was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court for "seeking 'foreign meddling' in Saudi Arabia, 'disobeying' its rulers. He was executed on or shortly before 2 January 2016, along with 46 others. His execution was faced with widespread protests at the time.
One year after his martyrdom, Shiite Muslims of Saudi Arabia held a demonstration on Sunday in the al-Awamiyah village in Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on Monday to mark the anniversary.
During the rally, which started from Shahid Khalid guest house, the participants carried signs and chanted the slogan “He is always alive”. They also condemned the kingdom for executing the cleric on trumped-up charges.
Similar demonstrations were held in Saudi’s close-ally Bahrain where people took to the streets of the village of Diraz to commemorate the anniversary of his execution. The protestors also showed solidarity with Bahraini Shiite cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, whom Manama stripped of citizenship in June.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out between police and demonstrators on Sitra Island who chanted slogans to mark the martyrdom of Sheikh Nimr as well as supporting Sheikh Isa Qassim.
A memorial service is also planned to be held in Berlin, Germany. Bahraini Cultural-Social Center in the German capital is set to mark the event today.
In a statement, the center said political and religious figures and rights activists will take part at the memorial service.
Meanwhile, an international committee set up to commemorate Sheikh Nimr on the first anniversary of his martyrdom has announced January 2-8 as the Week of Commemorating Sheikh Nimr.
A similar event was also held in Iranian city of Qom where prominent religious figures including Ayatollah Araki, Head of World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Ayatollah Bushehri, representative of Sheikh Isa Qassim in Iran and Sadiq al-Sharafi, former head of the Bahraini “popular committees to face Saudi military intervention” were present.
