A young protester who was reportedly forced to admit to crimes after being tortured when he was a teenager could be beheaded in the coming days.

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012, along with two others who were also minors at the time, following anti-government protests in 2011.

In 2013, aged just 17, he was sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion.

He is the nephew of the outspoken Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed on 2 January without warning, along with 46 other prisoners.

His mother, Umm Bakr, told The Times she fears her son was used “as a card against his uncle”, and says after he was arrested he was tortured into signing confessions for a number of false charges including carrying a weapon.

Mohammed al-Nimr, his father and the brother of Sheikh Nimr, believes his son was “just like any other youth,” he said: “When the movement started, he joined, believing he would take on the burden for the people.”

However, he claims police knocked Mr al-Nimr off his motorcycle and arrested him, informing his family he would only be released if “his uncle stops talking”.

Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Show all 8 1 /8 Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Abdullah al-Zaher Abdullah al-Zaher was arrested at the age of 15 for attending a protest and he is was the youngest in a group of juvenile offenders put on death row Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Abdullah al-Zaher Previously held alongside fellow juvenile offender Ali al-Nimr, whose case sparked outrage around the world, Abdullah has now been moved to solitary confinement at a new facility and could be beheaded at any moment Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Abdullah al-Zaher His family and lawyers believe he was forced to sign a document without knowing its contents, and which later was used as a “confession” in the closed trial against him Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Ali Mohammed al-Nimr Ali Mohammed al-Nimr faces imminent beheading and crucifixion for crimes he reportedly committed as a child Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Ali Mohammed al-Nimr The UN has issued an urgent call for Saudi Arabia to halt his execution but a Saudi court has upheld the sentence of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, the son of a prominent government dissident, despite growing and high-level international condemnation Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Ali Mohammed al-Nimr Mr al-Nimr, who was arrested in 2012 for his participation in Arab Spring protests when he was just 16 or 17 years old, could now be put to death at any time Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Dawood al-Marhoon Dawood al-Marhoon was 17 year old when he was arrested for participating in an anti-government protest Juveniles on death row in Saudi Arabia Dawood al-Marhoon After refusing to spy on his fellow protesters, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his ‘confession’. At Dawood’s trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer

The mass execution sparked widespread protests around the world and lead to a sharp decline in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Following the mass killing of 46 prisoners earlier this year, the largest mass execution in Saudi Arabia since 1980, the British government maintains it doesn’t expect the Mr al-Nimr’s sentence to go ahead.