Fun fact: Saudi Arabia’s justice system is governed solely by the Koran.

Via Al Akhbar:

On 25 March 2013, at the first court hearing of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Saudi prosecutor called for “death by crucifixion.” The prosecutor invoked haraba, a form of Islamic punishment enforced by the Saudi government, involving crucifixion and dismemberment.

The cleric’s brother, Mohamed al-Nimr, told Al-Akhbar that the court had convened unexpectedly. He believed the timing to be suspicious, given the mounting protests in Saudi by families of detained Islamists.

Mohamed, a Saudi businessman who often travels to Beirut, said that the Saudi government’s claim about uncovering an Iran-linked spy ring is a diversion from the persistent calls for reform. The government continues to distract by asserting that the kingdom is facing bigger enemies and threats, namely, Iran and the Shia.

Concerning the prosecution’s push for sentencing his brother to crucifixion, Mohamed said that the penalty is generally accepted in the kingdom and is stipulated in Islamic law as the harshest form of capital punishment.

The death penalty in Saudi Arabia can take the form of beheading by sword, a firing squad, or less frequently, crucifixion. According to Mohamed, the haraba punishment is usually reserved for those who cause “great mischief in the land.”