Personal Statement: Do not cry wolf! #OpNimr

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Here is an update to my column from earlier this week: https://thegadabouttown.com/2016/03/13/savethe3-the-world-is-watching/

My source Raymond Johansen writes:
“UPDATE: I was proven right. All three contacted their families [as we reported] and one of the mothers even got to visit her son on Sunday. I have however, received information, that four men was indeed executed on Sunday. The source is highly placed in the US State Department and cannot be named. My theory, repeat theory, is that they are not publishing this yet – simply waiting for a more opportune time to go public. The other theory is that nobody, but the murderer executed Sunday morning, was killed.

“UPDATE 2, March 17: Last night Saudi Press Agency confirmed the 73rd execution in 2016. Omar al-Rabie was killed yesterday. My thinking is that we can expect two more executions of ‘criminals’ in the near future.”

‪#‎OpNimr‬ ‪#‎SaudiArabia‬ ‪#‎Executions

Raymond Johansen's avatarhacktivist culture

Sunday March 13th: Personal statement regarding the recent article in the Saudi state newspaper Okaz on Friday March 11 about four men condemned to death


From Dubai I hear the following: Death sentences against four Saudi men convicted of terrorism have been confirmed by 13 judges, a Saudi newspaper reported, raising the possibility of a new round of executions two months after 47 people including a prominent Shi’ite cleric were put to death.

To me this clearly says that on Thursday or Friday a court upheld and earlier verdict. The three juveniles, including Ali al-Nimr, had their verdict upheld last year by the SCC (Specialized Criminal Court). There is no reason why the 5 judges in the Supreme Court would again hear their cases. (As far as I know.)

Therefore logic dictates that these four executions have absolutely nothing to do with the Quatif juveniles. There is simply no way…

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Today in History: March 17

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. It commemorates the date that is traditionally believed to be the death date of Pātricius, a Roman-British prelate who served as a Bishop of the Church in Ireland in the Fifth Century. March 17 has been celebrated as a feast day in his honor throughout the Christian world since the early 1600s.

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On this day in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Lhasa, Tibet, for India.
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Fighting for Her Brother’s Freedom

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Nous cherchons désespérément de l’aide pour soutenir notre frère à défendre sa cause et sauver sa vie.—a request for help by Zeinab Abu Al-Khair

“Désespérément.” Translation: We are desperately looking for help to save our brother’s life. Zeinab Abu Al-Khair wrote that today in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Zeinab lives in Canada). She is appealing to the world community for help in rescuing her brother from an unjust death sentence.

Her brother’s story first appeared here in November, in a column titled, “A Bloodthirsty System.” Thanks to Zeinab, who contacted me on Facebook last fall, I was the first columnist to report Hussein Abu Al-Khair’s arrest, trial, imprisonment, and death sentence. His story is similar to dozens in Saudi Arabia, after all, so how else could one man’s plight attract attention?

Thanks to her tireless efforts, many more people have become aware of his story via Twitter and websites like Movements.org. The artist George Riad Krohn volunteered his time and work and created the charcoal drawing seen at the top.
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