exec-maven-plugin cannot execute .sh script: permission denied

I have a bash script which I want maven to run after the compilation phase, since the script is supposed to deploy bundles. Here is the plugin I am trying to utilize in my release module:

<plugin>
          <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
          <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
          <executions>
            <execution>
              <id>deploy-bundles</id>
              <phase>install</phase>
              <goals>
                <goal>exec</goal>
              </goals>
              <configuration>
                <executable>${basedir}/deploy.sh</executable>
              </configuration>
            </execution>
          </executions>
        </plugin>

I have the deploy.sh in the correct path, so that's verified. Now when I do mvn install I get the following error:

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.codehaus.mojo:exec-maven-plugin:1.5.0:exec (deploy-bundles) on project module.release: Command execution failed. Cannot run program "/bla/bla/module.release/deploy.sh" (in directory "/bla/bla/module.release"): error=13, Permission denied -> [Help 1]

First, I thought it was about the bash script I wrote. So I changed it to a simple bash script like this:

#!/bin/bash          
STR="Hello World!"
echo $STR    

however, I got the same error. So it is not about the code. Should I given maven special rights? Should use the sudo command?

You need to set the appropriate permissions to the script and put the permission also into your version control either git (.gitattributes) or in Subversion (svn:executable property).