Nimr Nimr declared “mentally ill” for revolutionary views by Saudi Internior Minister – nothing new for brutal totalitarian states

Saudi minister says Shia cleric ‘mentally ill’
30 July, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz on Monday described prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr, detained in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, as mentally ill, a statement likely to spark further protests in the country.

“Nimr Nimr is someone who stirs sedition…The way he speaks reflects a mental deficiency and imbalance,” Ahmed said at a press conference, according to a report by state news agency SPA.

Ahmed claimed that authorities do not discriminate against the family of Nimr, but warned that those affected by his “deviation” should be stopped.

“His wife works in immigration, and his sons and daughters have scholarships to study abroad. The government sent his wife to the United States for treatment when she suffered a malignant illness,” he said.

“Everything is available for him, just like others,” Prince Ahmed added.

Nimr remains in hospital after being seriously wounded during his violent arrest earlier this month in the restive district of Qatif in the Eastern Province.

His arrest sparked huge street protests, with at least three people killed as authorities sought to crush the unrest.

Saudi police on Friday again confronted demonstrators who marched in Qatif demanding the release of Nimr and other detainees, witnesses said, while the interior ministry announced arresting several people among “rioters.”

The district witnessed a spate of protests after an outbreak of violence between Shia pilgrims and religious police in the Muslim holy city of Medina in February last year.

The protests escalated when the kingdom led a force of Gulf troops into neighboring Bahrain the following month to help crush a pro-democracy uprising against the ruling monarchy.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world, and the Shia minority often complain of discrimination in the mainly Sunni conservative kingdom. …source