Saudi Crackdown: Regime Executes Four Shia Nationals from Qatif

Local Editor

The Saudi Interior Ministry all of a sudden announced the execution of four Shia youths from al-Qatif eastern province who were arrested after participating in the 2011 peaceful protests.

The four martyrs are Youssef Mshaikhess from al-Awamiya, Mahdi al-Saegh, Zaher al-Bassri and Amjad AlMoaybid from Tarout.

The news shocked the Qatif society and observers noted that executing detainees in this specific time represents an attempt to cover up the regime's failure in ending the Awamia siege.

Observers further stressed that this brutal act conveys a message from the new Saudi princes that the regime will continue dealing with the national issues using security means.

Awamiya had witnessed an increase in anti-regime protests and an ensuing crackdown as Riyadh has insisted to destroy al-Mosawara, the old quarter of Awamiya, claiming the neighborhood's narrow streets had become a hideout for militants believed to be behind alleged attacks on security forces in the region.

The regime intends to turn Mosawara into a commercial zone, despite warnings both by locals and the United Nations that the controversial plan would ruin the 400-year-old neighborhood's historical and cultural heritage and could eventually lead to the forced eviction of hundreds of people from their businesses and residence.

Eastern Province, particularly Qatif, had been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011.

Protesters, complaining of marginalization in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, had been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.

Riyadh has responded to the protests with a heavy-handed crackdown, but the rallies had intensified since January 2016, when the Saudi regime executed respected Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the policies of Riyadh. The provocative move further escalated tension across the province. Over the past years, Riyadh had also redefined its anti-terrorism laws so as to target activism.

The Shia community of the province accounts for somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of Saudi Arabia's 33-million-strong population.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team