Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Western Media Highlights Terrorist’s Sects and Overlooks Victims | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Western media on Saudi execution


Western media on Saudi execution

Western media on Saudi execution


Saudi Ministry of Interior carrying out, Saturday, capital punishment on 47 terrorists and radical rabble-rousers flashed across Western press’ headlines, including British, American, French, and several other newscasts.

Despite, all Western and Arab press dealing with the incident with means of moderation and transparency, searching for the truth, identifying all of the punished convicts that were proven guilty terrorists, trying to hearing both sides of the story, other media took in the chance of spurring sectarian conflict across the region, and wrongly portraying legitimate provisions as ill-intentioned.

British press and media highlighted the execution of Nimr al-Nimr out of 46 others, solely focusing on his Shiite identity and considering his religious affiliations to have been a primary reason behind his death. British media completely ignored the verdict, accusations, and transgressions facing him. Al-Nimr was a man who directly threatened Saudi Arabia’s security and stability not once, but repetitively.

Moreover, as a part of its live coverage, “The Guardian” headlined: “Saudi Arabia executes 47 people in one day including Shia cleric”, yet twitter posters revealed minutes later, that the newspaper has changed the title’s expression from “Iranian cleric” to “Shia cleric” on its website.

Press has rotated pictures of Nimr al-Nimr wearing his turban, shedding light on his Shiite identity and completely ignoring his Saudi nationality. It also failed to mention that al-Qaeda terrorist Sunnis faced the same verdict as al-Nimr.

British and American press condemned the executions, yet forgot to consider all al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia that have killed 87 westerns and injured 433 others, all of which were American, British, French and of several other nationalities.

Al- Qaeda infamous attempt on the life of Frank Gardner, British BBC’s journalist and correspondent, that despite his survival resulted in the death of his cameraman

colleague Simon Cumbers, while they were shooting a documentary on al-Qaeda in a village near Riyadh.

Furthermore, media has not shed light on the other side of the story the victim’s families, who attended the court sessions and agreed on the Saudi legitimate verdict punishing their loved ones.

British leading member of the Apicorp Corporation, Michael Hamilton’s widow stated that she was at the court and has fully accepted the verdict against her husband’s murderers. She clarified that those are mere terrorists that are guilty of a heinous crime.

Penelope, Hamilton’s widow, said “I have always accepted the law, I have lived in Saudi Arabia for 25 years, I am aware of its laws and I respect them”.

“Those criminals were fully aware what punishment lies before their crimes, and they were very aware of what they were doing”, she assured.

Meanwhile, some journalists published negative statements on the passed judgment, in hopes of squaring old debts based on bias. Spite is proved especially by the fact that capital punishment laws inside or outside Saudi Arabia have never raised much Western attention before.