The mother of a Saudi protester sentenced to death by crucifixion has begged US president Barack Obama to intervene to save her son’s life.
The Guardian reports on the shocking case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who has been sentenced to die after being arrested attending a protest when he was just 17-years-old.
Ali’s mother, Nusra al-Ahmed, is reaching out to the international media and human rights organizations, to try to save her son’s life, saying Ali was charged with what would seem to civilized nations to be minor offences including attending a protest, using his phone to encourage further support for the demonstrations and possessing a gun, an accusation which the family denies.
“They were peaceful and civilized and legitimate,” Ali’s mother said of the protest. “I was afraid for my son, but inside I agreed with them in principle.”
Ali was a good student who “loved swimming, football and photography.”
“At home when he saw me cooking … he would offer to help me cook, cut the onion or slice the potatoes,” said his Mum, who says Ali has been tortured in prison.
“When I visited my son for the first time I didn’t recognise him. I could clearly see a wound on his forehead. Another wound in his nose. They disfigured it,” she said.
Asked how she was coping knowing that at any moment her son could be put to death, Ali’s Mum said: “For other people every hour is composed of 60 minutes, but for me every hour is 60 beats of pain.”
