Mohammed al-Nimr said that his brother "had been wanted by the Interior Ministry for a couple of months because of his political views". Thousands of people protested in response. Two men, Akbar al-Shakhouri and Mohamed al-Felfel, were killed in the protest. Pictures of al-Nimr "covered with what appeared to be a blood-stained white blanket" were published online by Eastern Province activists. On 16 July, activist Hamza al-Hassan stated that al-Nimr had received a brief visit by his family during which officials stated that the purpose of the visit was to request al-Nimr's family to "calm the angry protestors". According to al-Hassan and Press TV, "al-Nimr had been tortured, had bruises on his face and had broken teeth". On 19 July, al-Nimr's family said that al-Nimr had started a hunger strike. Al-Nimr's family visited him again on 22 July. They stated that he had been badly tortured, with signs of torture on his head, that he was continuing his hunger strike, and that he had weakened. Al-Nimr's wife, Muna Jabir al-Shariyavi, died in a New York City hospital while he was imprisoned. Two thousand people attended the funeral in Safwa on the evening of 30/31 August, called for al-Nimr to be unconditionally freed, for all Shia and Sunni detainees to be freed, and chanted "Down with Hamad", "Bahrain Free Free, Peninsula Shield out". On 21 August, the Asharq Center for Human Rights expressed concern that al-Nimr was on the 45th day of his hunger strike while in prison and said that he had not been charged. The Asharq Center appealed for international support for allowing access to al-Nimr by his family, lawyer and human rights activists. Amnesty International stated that apart from the charge of firing at security forces on 8 July 2012, the other charges, of "disobeying the ruler", "inciting sectarian strife" and "encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations" were based on documentary evidence of al-Nimr's sermons and interviews. Amnesty viewed these as representing the right to free speech and that al-Nimr did not incite violence in these. Amnesty stated that witnesses whose testimonies were used during the trial did not testify in court and that al-Nimr's lawyer was not given a fair possibility to defend him.