Mother of Saudi man sentenced to

crucifixion begs Obama to intervene

Mother of Saudi teenager facing crucifixion: Every hour is 60 beats of pain

Shiv Malik, Mona Mahmoodand Laurence TophamWednesday 14 October 2015

US president urged to rescue Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, sentenced to be

beheaded and crucified for allegedly attending anti-government protests
The mother of a Saudi protester sentenced to death by beheading and
crucifixion has begged Barack Obama to intervene to save her sons life.
In her first interview with foreign media, Nusra al-Ahmed, the mother of Ali
Mohammed al-Nimr, whose case has made headlines around the world,
described the intended punishment as savage and backwards in the
extreme.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Reprieve, the US
talkshow host Bill Maher and the British prime minister, David Cameron,
have all weighed in with calls for clemency to stop Nimr, who was 17 at the
time of his arrest, from being beheaded and then crucified.
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If you haven't used up all your heroism on the clock kid, try hashtagging
#AliMohammedAlNimr hwhosay.com/l/pWab2Ga
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The oil-rich state is facing
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Asked how she was coping
knowing that at any moment her son could be
.

put to death following the Saudi supreme courts rejection of his appeal,
Ahmed said: For other people every hour is composed of 60 minutes, but
for me every hour is 60 beats of pain.
She said her son had been detained sometime after joining Shia
demonstrators in the eastern coastal city of Qatif seeking equal religious
rights in the Sunni-majority country.
The official charges levelled against Nimr included attending a protest,
using his phone to encourage further support for the demonstrations and
possessing a gun, an accusation which the family strongly denies.
They were peaceful and civilised and legitimate and so my fear was, I was
afraid for my son, but inside I agreed with them in principle.
She said that before his arrest Nimr was a quick learner who loved
swimming, football and photography, and also a devoted son. At home
when he saw me cooking he would offer to help me cook, cut the onion
or slice the potatoes. This was his temperament completely.
Visiting after his arrest, she alleged he had been tortured. When I visited
my son for the first time I didnt recognise him. I didnt know whether this
really was my son Ali or not. I could clearly see a wound on his forehead.
Another wound in his nose. They disfigured it. Even his body, he was too
thin.
[When] I started talking to him [he told me that] during the interrogation
[he was] being kicked, slapped, of course his teeth fell out For a month

he was peeing blood. He said he felt like a mass of pain, his body was no
more.
She still had hope her son could be saved from his punishment imposed
under Saudis sharia penal system and described the sentence which
would involve him being beheaded before his decapitated body is hung
from a cross in public as having been plucked out of the dark ages.

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr. Photograph: Facebook

I feel that ones very being is repelled at such a ruling Its backwards in
the extreme. No sane and normal human being would rule against a child of
17 years old using such a sentence. And why? He didnt shed any blood, he

didnt steal any property. Where did they get it [this sentence]? From the
dark ages?
She believes the sentence was intended to punish her son for his Shia faith.
I dont expect that anyone normal and sane has heard of such a thing, [no]
normal person who is not sectarian would find such a thing acceptable.
Thats why you find that always its sectarian people who are happy with
such things because hes a Shia.
Calling on the US president to intervene she said: He is the head of this
world and he can, he can interfere and rescue my son To rescue someone
from harm, there is nothing greater than that. I mean my son and I are
simple people and we dont carry any significance in this world but despite
that, if he [Obama] carried out this act, I feel it would raise his esteem in
the eyes of the world. He would be rescuing us from a great tragedy.
On Tuesday the UK government said it would bewithdrawing its bid for a
5.9m contract to deliver training for Saudi prisons. That move came on the
same day that Cameron said he would write to Riyadh to implore Saudi
authorities not to carry out a punishment of 360 lashes on a British
pensioner caught transporting homemade wine in his car. Last week
Cameron appealed to the newly crowned king not to carry out the death
sentence on Nimr.
Speaking on BBCs Newsnight on Friday the Saudi ambassador to the UN,
Abdallah al-Mouallimi, said he would not talk about Nimrs case because the
legal process has not been exhausted, but said the matter was one for
Saudi Arabia alone.
We respectfully request the world to respect our systems and our judicial
processes, and our laws and regulations, and not to interfere in the internal
affairs of a sovereign state.
Mouallimi said the kingdom would uphold the UN charter on human rights.
The application of sharia law as far as human rights is concerned is the
highest form of human rights, he said, adding: We believe that we are
holding ourselves to the highest standards. If that doesnt please someone

here or there, thats their problem not ours.

The Saudi UK embassy has said it rejects any form of interference in its
internal affairs.

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Press Statement: #SaudiArabia rejects any form of interference in its internal

affairs. #AliAlNimr
12:06 PM - 7 Oct 2015
Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said the US
president needed to step in immediately. Saudi Arabias planned
executions of Ali al-Nimr and another juvenile, Dawoud al-Marhoon, have
rightly caused a global outcry. But the response of the US the Saudis
closest ally to these outrages has been woefully inadequate, she said.
The beheading of these two boys, who were arrested and tortured for
merely attending protests, would be a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
President Obama must listen to the call from Alis desperate family, and
step in now to urge the Saudis to change course.
Nusra al-Ahmed said she was grateful for the support she had received from

across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and described the intervention
by the UKs leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, during his inaugural
speech to his party conference as a beautiful gesture.
During the speech Corbyn called on Cameron to take up Nimrs case with
the Saudi authorities to prevent a grave injustice.
Ahmed said she hoped Corbyn continues to demand or to canvass the
kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding this issue and this is a very humane act
from him.
Nimrs case now rests in the hands of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,
who isfacing dissension from within the sprawling royal family just 10
months after taking the throne.
Asked whether she had a message for him, Ahmed said, I wish that King
Salman would lift this pain from my son The king is also a father, and he
should be the first one to feel sympathy for us.
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