Saudi Arabia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prosecutor Demands "Death by Crucifixion" for Dissident Cleric

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr1438 GMT: Bahrain: Twenty-one medics, arrested at their hospital amid pro-reform protests in April 2011, have had their convictions quashed.

The doctors and nurses were found guilty last November of misdemeanours after treating protesters injured by police clearing the camp at the iconic Pearl Roundabout.

The medics alleged they were tortured and coerced into making false confessions. The confessions were used to convict them before military tribunals.

Twenty-eight other medical staff were prosecuted. Three remain in jail and several of those acquitted have not been allowed to return to their work as doctors.

0812 GMT: Saudi Arabia: A Saudi Arabian prosecutor has demanded "death by crucifixion" for dissident cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, whose arrest last summer fed mass protests in Eastern Province.

Al-Nimr, who was shot during his arrest, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since his detention in July.

National newspaper Al-Hayat said the prosecutor has called for haraba, a form of Islamic punishment used against thieves and charlatans, that involves crucifixion. Al-Hayat did not name the case's defendant, but mentioned characteristics that matched those of Nimr.

Accusing the cleric of "aiding terrorists" and instigating unrest, the prosecutor said he was guilty of "waging war on God", a crime that automatically carries the death penalty.

There have recurrent large protests in Eastern Province, with the largely-Shia population demanding reforms, rights, and the release of political prisoners. At least 16 demonstrators and a police officer have been killed in the past two years.

Nimr was based in al-Awamiyah, a neighborhood in Qatif that has been a centre of unrest.

When he was seized, the cleric was accused of meeting suspects who are on the run. He was also denounced for interfering in the internal affairs of Bahrain..