page_title: Execution of Nimr al-Nimr
section_title: Street protests
hierarchical_section_title: Execution of Nimr al-Nimr / Street protests
caption_attribution_description: English: Protest in Mashhad against execution of Nimr al-Nimr in front of Saudi consulate.
context_page_description: Nimr Baqir al-Nimr was a Shia cleric and critic of the government in Saudi Arabia, who was beheaded on 2 January 2016, one of 47 people executed that day for terrorism offences. Others executed included Sunnis who had been convicted of involvement in terror attacks linked to al-Qaeda which took place in 2003. News of the killings triggered international demonstrations, and condemnation by nations, supranational organisations, and human rights groups.
context_section_description: Protests were held after Nimr's execution in many cities of world such as London, Tehran, Chicago, Toronto, Iranian holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India's Jammu and Kashmir state, Turkey, and in front of the Saudi Embassy in Athens, Greece Washington, United States, and Canberra, Australia.
  People in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province have taken to the streets with protesters marching from Nimr's hometown of al-Awamiyah to Qatif, chanting: "Down with the Al Saud".
  On 2 January, the day of the execution, protesters gathered outside Tehran's Saudi embassy, shouting "death to Al Saud". The embassy was on fire after a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at it. The protests continued beyond 3 am. The embassy was empty during the protests. Police donned riot gear and arrested 40 people during the incident. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has appealed for calm and to respect diplomatic premises, The day after, protests were held again by hundreds of Iranians in Tehran, and President Rouhani called the damage on embassy "by no means justifiable". Elsewhere, there were protests in the Iranian holy city of Qom.
  Hundreds of people held a protest rally in the Bahraini capital, Manama. Demonstrators carrying pictures of Sheikh Nimr were involved in a clash with police in the Bahraini village of Abu-Saiba. Hundreds also marched in al-Daih and Sitra, chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia's ruling Al Saud family and the Sunni family ruling Bahrain, and calling Nimr "our martyr".
  In Iraq, protestors broke into the Saudi embassy, which has not been officially opened yet. Footage of a rocket attack on the Saudi embassy in Baghdad also was released by the media.
  In the Indian city of Srinagar, the capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, people protested using anti-Saudi banners. The protesters were marching towards the UN office at Sonawar, only to be intercepted by the police. Similar protests were held in the Kargil district, where religious organisations called for three days of mourning.
caption: Protest in Mashhad in front of the Saudi consulate.
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