Beirut:Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese Islamic Resistance movement Hezbollah, says the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by the Al Saud regime will not be taken lightly.

During a televised address on Sunday, Nasrallah said criticism is forbidden Saudi Arabia, adding that the country is no place for any cleric of any sect casting the kingdom’s policies into question.

Elaborating on Riyadh’s way of treating criticism, however, the Hezbollah chief said, “He, who speaks out is executed. This is Saudi Arabia, which wants to spread democracy in the region.”

Nimr was put to death alongside 46 other people, whom the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said had been found guilty of involvement in “terrorism.”

“He was very courageous regarding what he said,” Nasrallah said, adding, “He was a reformist man” championing the rights of people in the Arabian Peninsula. “He spoke what is right.”