Saudi Arabia announced Saturday that it had executed 47 people in one day, among them a prominent cleric, highlighting the challenge of U.S. support for the authoritarian government.
“The implementation of the judicial rulings against 47 who were convicted of terrorist crimes [was carried out],” Saudi Arabian Interior Minister Mansour al-Turki said, according to a translation from The Guardian. “The implementation was carried out according to the legal indictments that were sentenced in relation to each person.”
The United States and its ally faced criticism for Saturday’s judicial actions in authoritarian Saudi Arabia.
The Human Rights Campaign denounced the killings, and in particular singled out the execution of a dissent Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution it labeled “appalling.” Sunni Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia.
The United Kingdom, Germany and other European states decried the killings in statements Saturday.
Iran, a mostly Shiite Muslim country long at odds with Saudi Arabia, also denounced the executions.
“The execution of a personality such as Sheikh Nimr who had no means other than speech to pursue his political and religious objectives only shows the depth of imprudence and irresponsibility,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi said in a statement.
Nimr was a supporter of 2011 Arab Spring protests across the Middle East.
No presidential candidate has made a statement on the executions to this point, but Bernie Sanders has called for a reevaluation of U.S. strategy with the Saudi regime in the past. His campaign had no immediate comment Saturday.
