Saudi Arabia puts 30 Shiites on trial over spying for Iran

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Saudi Arabia has put on trial 32 people, almost all of them members of the kingdom’s Shiite minority, accused of spying for Iran, local media report.

The defendants face charges including treason, establishing a spy ring with Iranian intelligence and passing on sensitive data on military zones.

Most of the 32 are from Saudi Arabia’s restive Eastern Province, with one an Iranian national and another an Afghan.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have escalated in recent weeks.

Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in early January following the storming of its embassy in Tehran by protesters angered by the execution of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and three other Shiites.

Saudi officials insisted Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was guilty of terrorism offences, but Iran’s supreme leader said he had been executed solely for his criticism of the Sunni monarchy.

‘Sectarian strife’

The defendants who went on trial at the Specialised Criminal Court in the capital Riyadh on Sunday were detained in 2013, Saudi media reported.

They include several well-known figures in the Shiite community who are not involved in politics, including an elderly university professor, a paediatrician, a banker and two clerics, according to the Reuters news agency.

Eastern Province is home to most of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite Muslims. They make up less than 15% of the national population, and many claim they suffer discrimination.

Dissent is rarely tolerated in Saudi Arabia, and between 2011 and 2013 more than 20 people were shot dead by security forces and hundreds more detained.

Shootings and petrol bomb attacks also killed several police officers.

BBC

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11 responses to “Saudi Arabia puts 30 Shiites on trial over spying for Iran”

  1. Saudi officials insisted Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was guilty of terrorism offences, but Iran’s supreme leader said he had been executed solely for his criticism of the Sunni monarchy.

    Iranian hard-liners say Khomeini’s decree is irrevocable and eternal after his death. Wealthy Iranian religious organization offered $2.7 million reward to anyone carrying out the fatwa and in 2012 it increased the amount to $3.3 million.

    ………

    1. johngilbert Avatar
      johngilbert

      Meanwhile the Shiite Iranian leadership does not consider Assad’s beliefs to be Shirk and against the Islamic belief of Tawhid: Their theology is based on a divine triad, or trinity, which is the core of Alawite belief. The triad comprises three emanations of the one God: the supreme aspect or entity called the “Essence” or the “Meaning” (both being translations of ma’na), together with two lesser emanations known as his “Name” (ism), or “Veil” (hijab), and his “Gate” (bab). These emanations have manifested themselves in different human forms over several cycles in history, the last cycle of which was as Ali (the Essence/Meaning), Muhammad (the Name) and Salman the Persian (the Gate). Alawite belief is summarised in the formula: “I turn to the Gate; I bow before the Name; I adore the Meaning”.

      1. Patience2 Avatar

        And so… the Shia consider the Alaoui to be athiests.

        1. In the end it’s all about money and interests.

      2. I don’t care about the Islamic belief of Tawhid or other Islamic theology.

        The point is that this theology ‘permit’ them to practice violent crime against eachother and that is lunatic.

        1. Patience2 Avatar

          I would say, it’s VERY, er… Un-Christian!??

          1. “Un-Christian!??”, un-Islamic, un-atheistic…..

            Religion is what “johngilbert” put the weight on, but it is the money that makes the world go around….

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