Sheikh Nimr’s verdict against Islamic laws: Pundit
Press TV has interviewed Syed Ali Wasif, president of the International Reforms and Research from Washington DC, and Richard William Murphy, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia from New York, to discuss the Saudi Supreme Court’s approval of the death penalty against prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr.
Wasif states Saudi Arabia defies the international rights for freedom of speech and expression, because the kingdom has detained opposition figures such as Sheikh Nimr in fact as “prisoners of political conscience” and the prisoners are not behind bars for criminal charges.
“The way Sheikh Nimr is being treated by the Saudi totalitarian absolute monarchy is in contravention to international legal and political principles, the Geneva Conventions, the International Human Rights law, the United Nations General Assembly resolutions and Security Council resolutions vis-à-vis freedom of speech and expression,” he argues.
The political activist also says Islam and Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) endorsed the freedom of speech and expression, thus the Saudi authorities have no right to imprison any person under the pretext of criticizing Saudi officials.
Pointing to the root cause of the Saudi regime attitude towards its own citizens, he notes the sociology of the Saudis’ ruling regime shows that the authorities “do not consider their citizens as citizens, they still consider them as subjects.”
Murphy, for his turn, believes “public order is the basic importance for the regime” in Saudi Arabia, adding that in case of any capital punishment, the final decision is “subject to appeal up to the monarch,” but the final verdict has not been yet confirmed by the Saudi king.
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