Saudi Arabia handed down death sentence to a Shiite activist on alleged charges of participating in activities against the Riyadh regime.The unnamed man was found guilty and sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh on Sunday for his anti-regime activities, among other offenses, Arabic-language Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Okaz reported. The activist was reportedly accused of carrying out an armed attack on police and its checkpoints in Qatif’s village of al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. His charges also included possession of white arms, spreading hatred against the ruling regime, and provoking people to carry out attacks against Saudi security forces. The monarchy is consistently singled out and criticized for its widespread violation of human rights. US-based Human Rights Watch and UK-based Amnesty International have both condemned Saudi Arabia for cracking down on activists and political dissidents. Back in March 2016, the Amnesty released a statement, saying the kingdom had enforced an “abusive” anti-terror law, which associates peaceful protests with terrorism and allows it to hand down lengthy jail terms to peaceful critics and human rights activists after holding “deeply unfair” trials for them.
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