SAUDI ARABIA: SHIA ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO DEATH

A Saudi court sentenced to death a Shiite protester convicted of attacking police forces during unrest in the east, local media reported, in the second such ruling this week.
Scores of Shiites are on trial in Saudi Arabia after they were detained for involvement in anti-regime protests staged in the oil-rich Eastern Province since February 2011.
The court convicted the man of "causing sedition, rioting, carrying arms, targeting security patrols with petrol bombs, and attacking forces and government and private installations" in the Shiite village of Awamiya, local media said.
Activists identified the defendant as Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, a 20-year-old detained since "nearly 30 months."
"Aged 17 at the time of his arrest, he was placed in a minors detention centre before being transferred to prison" for trial in a special terrorism court, an activist said, citing Nimr's father.