Human Rights Watch urges fair trial of Saudi cleric

The rights organization issued a statement on Saturday calling on Saudi authorities to provide Sheikh Nimr with “immediate access to adequate medical care for gunshot wounds received during his arrest 10 months ago.”
 
The rights group also said that the Saudi regime should “conduct an immediate bail review (for Sheikh Nimr), as international law requires.”
 
Sheikh Nimr was attacked, injured and arrested by Saudi security forces en route to his house in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on July 8, 2012.
 
The arrest sparked protests in the oil-rich province. The cleric appeared before court on March 26 for the first time since his arrest.
 
Saudi prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Sheikh Nimr.
 
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said on Saturday, “As a court debates whether to kill Nimr al-Nimr and string his corpse to a pole, he is suffering from the gunshot wounds he sustained when security forces arrested him.”
 
“It is outrageous that a man of his standing has been targeted in this way and that authorities have ignored his family’s repeated pleas for adequate medical care.”
 
There have been numerous demonstrations in Eastern Province since February 2011, with protesters primarily calling for political reform and an end to widespread discrimination.
 
Anti-regime protests intensified, however, since November 2011, when security forces opened fire on protesters in Qatif, killing five people and leaving scores more injured.
 
In October 2012, Amnesty International called on Saudi authorities to stop using excessive force against the protesters.