Saudi Arabia Sentences Another Shia Cleric to Long Imprisonment

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein Razi, a Shia cleric, to 13 years in prison. The English-language network 'Press TV,' affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, reported on Wednesday (August 10) that the Saudi government has significantly increased pressure on Shia religious figures in the country. This media outlet added that the news of this sentence issued by a special court in Riyadh against the 66-year-old cleric was published by an 'independent Arabic-language' Yemeni news website. Relatives and close associates of Sheikh Razi have interpreted his 13-year imprisonment as a de facto death sentence and have strongly protested it. They claim that this cleric suffers from heart disease and cannot endure prison conditions. Sheikh Razi was arrested on March 21, 2016, while he was surrounded by a group of Saudi police in the city of Al-Imran. According to Press TV, this senior Shia cleric had previously faced various forms of 'harassment' and had been interrogated multiple times regarding his comments during Friday prayers on domestic and regional issues, particularly criticizing the execution of Sheikh Nimr in Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Nimr, who criticized Saudi intervention in Yemen and other regional countries and called for internal reforms, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to death on October 15, 2015, by a Saudi criminal court on charges of 'acting against national security and waging war.' Nimr condemned the labeling of Hezbollah's actions as terrorism and regarded Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General, as a source of pride for Arabs and Muslims. His execution provoked regional and international reactions, and following an attack by a group of Iranian protesters on Saudi consulates and diplomatic offices in Tehran and Mashhad, Riyadh severed its relations with Tehran. According to Press TV, since February 2011, the Saudi government has intensified pressure on the Shia minority in the country. Reports from Reuters and other sources also indicate widespread 'destruction' of the old fabric of Shia neighborhoods in eastern Saudi cities by the government.