Al-Nimr's parents are expected to visit him on Friday on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

CNN: Story highlights

But as Nimr exemplifies, there are mutterings about Jordan's inability to act as an independent, Arab country.

BBC: Jordan tribes' despair over Iraq

And some Sunni dissidents sigh that the government thrives on the sort of provocative statements issued by Mr Nimr, whom the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia already finds easy to demonise.

ECONOMIST: Shias in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain