A Saudi Arabian from the Shiite minority whose death sentence has been commuted was released on Wednesday after spending ten years in prison for participating in anti-government protests, his family and an NGO said.
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"Ali al-Nimr, a young man in detention since 2012 for participating in protests as a minor, and who had previously been sentenced to death, was released today,"
the human rights organization tweeted. , ALQST. Ali al-Nimr's sister, Zahra, for her part tweeted:
"After 10 hard years, my brother (Ali) is free, thank God".
The death sentences handed down to Ali al-Nimr and two other Shiite Saudis, arrested as minors in 2012 for their participation in protests in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings, have been commuted to February to 10 years in prison.
In April 2020, Riyadh declared an end to the death penalty for people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.
The announcement of this reform in a country with one of the highest execution rates of death row inmates in the world came as Riyadh wants to improve its human rights record.