Nimr al-Nimr

Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr (نمر باقر النمر; June 21, 1959 – January 2, 2016), commonly referred to as Sheikh Nimr, was a Shia sheikh from Al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province whose arrest and execution was widely condemned, including by governments and human rights organizations.

He was popular among youth and critical of the Saudi Arabian government, calling for free elections in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Nimr began his religious studies in al-Awamiyah, and then moved to Iran in 1980, to complete his studies.

He studied in al-Qaim seminary in Tehran, under Ayatollah Ali-Akbar al-Modarresi mainly, the younger brother of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi, as well as other senior scholars.

After al-Qaim was closed down by the Iranian government, he moved to Damascus, Syria.

He initially followed Grand Ayatollah Muhammad al-Shirazi and later followed Grand Ayatollah al-Modarresi.

, he was independent of the two main political groups in the Eastern Province Shia community, Islahiyyah (the Shirazis) and Hezbollah Al-Hejaz (Saudi Hezbollah).

He was arrested by Saudi authorities in 2006, at which time al-Nimr said he was beaten by the Mabahith.

Al-Nimr had been the Friday prayers leader in al-Awamiyah since 2008.

Al-Nimr supported "something between" individual and council forms of guardianship of the Islamic Jurists as a form of government.

He supported Kurdish majority control of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Al-Nimr believed that Shia ayatollahs would not promote violence and "murder in the name of God".

He supported "the idea of elections".

In August 2008, he said that he saw US citizens as a natural ally of Shia as the thinking of both US citizens and Shia is "based on justice and liberty".

He told a diplomat that he believed in these "American ideals".

He believed that the Saudi state is "particularly reactionary" and that "agitation" is needed to influence the state in general and the Saudi state in particular.

According to John Kincannon, Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Al-Nimr made statements "perceived as supporting Iran".

In August 2008, he stated that he believed that Iran and other states outside of Saudi Arabia act mainly out of self-interest, not out of religious solidarity.

He distanced himself from Iran.

In 2009, he criticised Saudi authorities and suggested that if Saudi Shia rights were not respected, the Eastern Province should secede.

Saudi authorities responded by arresting al-Nimr and 35 others.

During the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests, al-Nimr called for protestors to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" rather than violence.

The Guardian described al-Nimr as having "taken the lead in [the] uprising."

Al-Nimr criticized Bahrain's monarchy, which suppressed anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain in 2011.

Al-Nimr also criticized Syria's Bashar Assad, saying "(Bahrain's ruling family) Al Khalifa are oppressors, and the Sunnis are innocent of them. They're not Sunnis, they're tyrants. The Assads in Syria are oppressors ... We do not defend oppressors and those oppressed shouldn't defend the oppressor."

Al-Nimr was described by The Guardian as "[seeming] to have become the most popular Saudi Shia cleric among local youth" in October 2011.

On July 8, 2012, Saudi police shot al-Nimr in the leg and arrested him in what police described as an "exchange of gunfire."

Saudi police fired into a crowd of thousands who protested al-Nimr's arrest, killing two men, Akbar al-Shakhouri and Mohamed al-Felfel.

Al-Nimr started a hunger strike and allegedly was tortured.

The Asharq Center for Human Rights expressed concern for al-Nimr's health during his hunger strike on August 21, calling for international support to allow access by family, lawyer and human rights activists.

Al-Nimr criticised Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was crown prince of Saudi Arabia, following Nayef's death in June 2012.

He stated that "people must rejoice at [Nayef's] death" and that "he will be eaten by worms and will suffer the torments of Hell in his grave".

He retained his popularity in 2012, with thousands of people participated in Qatif street demonstrations in his support following his July 2012 arrest.

On October 15, 2014 al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court for "seeking 'foreign meddling' in Saudi Arabia, 'disobeying' its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces."

His brother, Mohammad al-Nimr, was arrested on the same day for tweeting information about the death sentence.

Al-Nimr was executed on or shortly before January 2, 2016, along with 46 others.

His execution was condemned by Iran and Shiites throughout the Middle East, as well as by Western figures and Sunnis opposed to sectarianism.

The Saudi government said the body would not be handed over to the family.

In March 2017, after a long campaign of harassment, the Saudi security forces killed two cousins of Nimr family during a raid on a farm in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Miqdad and Mohammad Al-Nimr were killed at a farm in Awamiyah, the Nimr family hometown.