A prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr was among 47 persons executed by Saudi Arabia government on Saturday.
All those executed in 12 different locations across the Kingdom were Shiite Muslim who the Saudi interior ministry in a statement noted believed in extremist ideology and were members of terror groups.
Sheikh Nimr was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in Eastern Province in 2011, where a Shia majority have long complained of marginalization.