Shiite Political Activist from Qatif Executed by Saudi Arabia

Riyadh executed Haider Nasser al-Tahaifa, a resident of the Qatif region, on charges of participation in anti-Riyadh activities and protests against the kingdom.

The activist was accused of joining a “terrorist cell” aimed at undermining the country's internal security, destroying public property, and carrying out acts of vandalism. He was sentenced to death in September 2021 after five years of arbitrary detention in Dammam.

Reacting to Tahaifa's execution, activists and Twitter users from Arab and Muslim countries expressed their indignation at the crime, which is added to Saudi Arabia's crimes against prisoners of conscience. Adel al-Saeed, a researcher at the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), said that Saudi Arabia's criminality and disdain for blood have no limits.

The Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011, with protesters demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the region. The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown, with regime forces increasing security measures across the province.

Since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals, and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.

The execution of Tahaifa adds to the list of Saudi Arabia's crimes against prisoners of conscience, including the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in January 2016, who was an outspoken critic of the Riyadh regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif in 2012.