Saudi authorities on Wednesday freed a young Shi'ite Muslim whose death sentence had been commuted to 10 years in prison under recent legislative reforms, his father said in a Twitter post.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi authorities on Wednesday freed a young Shi ite Muslim whose death sentence had been commuted to 10 years in prison under recent legislative reforms, his father said in a Twitter post. Ali Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent Shi ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr whose 2016 execution sparked demonstrations in Saudi Arabia and Iran, was 17 when he was detained in February 2012 for participating in protests in the country s Eastern Province. Today on the 27th October 2021, my son was released, his father Mohammed al Nimr said in a series of tweets, in which he thanked friends and family for their support throughout a difficult decade. He also thanked King Salman for the historic decision in April 2020 which ruled to stop issuing and implementing death sentences against minors. Nimr s uncle, Jaafar Al Nemer, also tweeted news of his nephew s release along with a photo of a smiling but tired-looking Nimr sitting in the back of a car. In February, Saudi s state-backed Human Rights