On January 2, 2016, the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

carried out a mass execution of 47 imprisoned civilians convicted for terrorism in 12 provinces in the country. Forty-three were

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

and four were executed by

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

s. Among the 47 people killed was

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Nimr al-Nimr.Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Saudi Arabia executes top Shia cleric
BBC News (January 2, 2016). The execution was the largest carried out in the kingdom since 1980. Nimr al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the

Specialized Criminal Court The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) ( ar, المحكمة الجزائية المتخصصة) is a non-Sharia court created in Saudi Arabia in 2008 that tries suspected terrorists and human rights activists. On 26 June 2011, the court started tri ...

on 15 October 2014 for "seeking 'foreign meddling' in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, 'disobeying' its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces". His execution was condemned by religious and political figures and human rights groups. The Saudi government said the body would not be handed over to the family. Al-Nimr was very critical of the

Saudi Arabian government The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy along Islamic lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among the Ki ...

, and called for free

elections in Saudi Arabia Elections in Saudi Arabia are rare. Municipal elections were last held in 2015, the first time women had the right to vote and stand as candidates. History The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia took place in the mid-1920s in the Hijaz cit ...

Response

The mass execution sparked mass protests across the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, during which protesters in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

burned part of the Saudi diplomatic missions, and the Saudi embassy in the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i capital

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

was attacked by protesters and a rocket. The embassies were empty during the attacks. In response, the Saudi state severed ties with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The Iranian government condemned the embassy attack in Iran.

List of executed people

Out of the total forty-seven people executed, forty-five were Saudis, one was

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian, and one was

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

ian. * Ameen Mohammed Abdullah Al Aqala (Saudi) * Anwar Abdulrahman Khalil Al-Najjar (Saudi) * Badr bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Badr (Saudi) * Bandar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Ghaith (Saudi) * Hassan Hadi bin Shuja'a Al-Masareer (Saudi) * Hamad bin Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Humaidi (Saudi) * Khalid Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Jarallah (Saudi) * Ridha Abdulrahman Khalil Al-Najjar (Saudi) * Saad Salamah Hameer (Saudi) * Salah bin Saeed bin Abdulraheem Al-Najjar (Saudi) * Salah bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Hussain (Saudi) * Saleh bin Abdulrahman bin Ibrahim Al-Shamsan (Saudi) * Saleh bin Ali bin Saleh Al-Juma'ah (Saudi) * Adel bin Saad bin Jaza' Al-Dhubaiti (Saudi) * Adel Mohammed Salem Abdullah Yamani (Saudi) * Abduljabbar bin Homood bin Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi) * Abdulrahman Dhakheel Faleh Al-Faleh (Saudi) * Abdullah Sayer Moawadh Massad Al-Mohammadi (Saudi) * Abdullah bin Saad bin Mozher Shareef (Saudi) * Abdullah Saleh Abdulaziz Al-Ansari (Saudi) * Abdullah Abdulaziz Ahmed Al-Muqrin (Saudi) * Abdullah Musalem Hameed Al-Raheef (Saudi) * Abdullah bin Mua'ala bin A'li (Saudi) * Abdulaziz Rasheed bin Hamdan Al-Toaili'e (Saudi) * Abdulmohsen Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Yahya (Saudi) * Isam Khalaf Mohammed Al-Mothri'e (Saudi) * Ali Saeed Abdullah Al Ribeh (Saudi) * Ghazi Mohaisen Rashed (Saudi) * Faris Ahmed Jama'an Al Showail (Saudi) * Fikri Ali bin Yahya Faqih (Saudi) * Fahd bin Ahmed bin Hanash Al Zamel (Saudi) * Fahd Abdulrahman Ahmed Al-Buraidi (Saudi) * Fahd Ali Ayedh Al Jubran (Saudi) * Majed Ibrahim Ali Al-Mughainem (Saudi) * Majed Moeedh Rashed (Saudi) * Mishaal bin Homood bin Juwair Al-Farraj (Saudi) * Mohammed Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-Muharib (Saudi) * Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim Suwaymil (Saudi) * Mohammed Fathi Abula'ti Al-Sayed (Egyptian) * Mohammed bin Faisal bin Mohammed Al-Shioukh (Saudi) * Mostafa Mohammed Altaher Abkar (Chadian) * Moaidh Mufreh Ali Al Shokr (Saudi) * Nasser Ali Ayedh Al Jubran (Saudi) * Naif Saad Abdullah Al-Buraidi (Saudi) * Najeeb bin abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Bohaiji (Saudi) *

Nimr Baqr al-Nimr Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr ( ar, نمر باقر النمر, Nimr Bāqir an-Nimr, Bakir al-Nimr, al-Nemr, al-Namr, al-Nimer, al-Nemer, al-Namer; 21 June 1959 – 2 January 2016), commonly referred to as Sheikh Nimr, was a Shia sheikh in ...

(Saudi) * Nimr Sehaj Zeid Al-Kraizi (Saudi)

References

{{Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict 2016 in Saudi Arabia 21st-century executions by Saudi Arabia Prisoners sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia People executed by Saudi Arabia by decapitation Filmed executions Controversies in Saudi Arabia Iran–Saudi Arabia relations Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict

Response

List of executed people

See also

References