The detention of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr triggered the worst unrest in the kingdom’s Eastern Province for months, prompting fears that the long-marginalised region could erupt in open revolt.
Hundreds of men marched through the centre of the city of Qatif, chanting "Down, Down with the House of Saud" and "Death to al-Saud", a rare direct challenge to the kingdom’s royal family.
Amateur video footage showed live gunshots being fired at apparently peaceful demonstrators. But even as some protesters rushed forward to help one wounded man, others resumed their chanting with even greater fervour.
Shots were also fired during a second protest in the nearby village of Awamiya, where Sheikh Nimr was reportedly shot in the thigh as he was arrested.
The cleric has emerged as a leading voice of Saudi Arabia’s Shia minority, leading them in sporadic protests that have erupted in their eastern strongholds since last year. The most recent deaths, the first since February, bring to nine the total number of Shia killed in the Eastern Province region since the unrest began.
