(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A Saudi court yesterday sentenced prominent Shia cleric and anti-government protest leader Nimr Al Nimr to death after convicting him of sedition, his family said.
The verdict risks a further escalation of tensions with Saudi Arabia's minority Shia community.
Nimr was a driving force behind demonstrations against the Sunni authorities that erupted in 2011 in the oil-flush east, alongside a Shia-led protest movement in neighbouring Bahrain.
The cleric was also convicted of seeking "foreign meddling" in the country, a reference to Iran, his brother Mohammed Al Nimr wrote on Twitter. He was found guilty of "disobeying" the kingdom's rulers and taking up arms against security forces, his brother said.
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