Saudi blogger Raif Badawi whose public flogging shocked the world is freed from jail
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who spent a decade behind bars and whose ‘cruel and inhuman’ public flogging for ‘insulting Islam’ shocked the world is freed from jail but given ten-year travel ban
In 2014 Raif Badawi, 38, was given 10 years for ‘insulting Islam’ by Saudi Arabia He was also sentenced to 1,000 lashes which stopped after outcry from UNHis wife and mother of his three children Ensaf Haidar held a weekly vigil for himMr Badawi’s release is confirmed and he will have a 10 year ban on foreign travel
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A Saudi blogger who spent a decade behind bars and whose ‘cruel and inhuman’ public flogging for ‘insulting Islam’ shocked the world has been freed from jail but will not be able to leave the Arab country for 10 years.
Raif Badawi, now 38, was set to have 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks but after his first flogging in Jeddah square nearly killed him, he was not hit again.
The Saudi punishment shocked the world and was described by the United Nations as ‘cruel and inhuman’.
In 2012, the winner of the Reporters Without Borders was arrested and charged with ‘insulting Islam’ and later was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
His wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and held a vigil every Friday for his release, told AFP, ‘Raif called me. He is free’.
Mr Badawi’s release was also confirmed by a Saudi security official, who said on condition of anonymity that ‘he was released today.’
He will not be able to leave the country for 10 years under the Arab country’s ban on foreign travel.
Raif Badawi’s wife and mother of his three children Ensaf has been advocating his release
In 2014 Raif Badawi was given 10 years for ‘insulting Islam’ by Saudi Arabia
Colette Lelievre, a Montreal-based campaign organizer with Amnesty who has worked on Badawi’s case, said his release was ‘a great relief’
One of his daughters, Nawja Badawi, 18, told AFP: ‘I jumped when I found out. I couldn’t believe it. I can’t wait to see my dad, I’m so excited.’
‘Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!’ Amnesty International tweeted.
‘Thousands of you have mobilized alongside us in the defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. A big thank you to all of you for your tireless support.’
Colette Lelievre, a Montreal-based campaign organizer with Amnesty who has worked on Badawi’s case, said his release was ‘a great relief.’
‘Ensaf was at a loss for words,’ Lelievre said Friday. ‘She worked so hard to free her husband that emotions overwhelmed her.
Mrs Haidar – who fled to Canada after Mr Badawi’s arrest and has since become a Canadian citizen – told AFP in late February at the 374th vigil that she’d been able to maintain contact with her husband, speaking with him ‘up to three times a week’ by telephone.
In 2014 Raif Badawi was given a sentence of 10 years and a 1,000 lashes for ‘insulting Islam’ by Saudi Arabia
Mr Bawadi was flogged in front of a crowd of hundreds of people in Jeddah. Pictured: leaked video footage taken on a mobile phone showed the beating in January 2015
Canada’s Quebec province has paved the way for Mr Badawi to come to the country if he chooses by placing him on a priority list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons.
‘Finally!’ Quebec Premier Francois Legault tweeted Friday about his release, adding: ‘I keep thinking about the children who will finally see their father!’
Amnesty said in an email to AFP that it would ‘actively work to have any conditions lifted.’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he was ‘relieved that Raif Badawi has finally been released.’
‘Our officials are now working to seek clarity on the conditions of his release,’ he added.
Mr Badawi will not be able to leave the country for 10 years under the Arab country’s ban on foreign travel
‘Raif called me. He is free,’ his wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and had been fiercely advocating for his release, told AFP
Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister and Badawi’s international legal counsel, said in a statement he hoped that ‘Saudi authorities will compassionately allow for his reunification with his wife and young children in Canada.’
International non-governmental groups and the United Nations continue to denounce the repression of dissenting voices and the imprisonment of activists in Saudi Arabia, despite the kingdom’s efforts to improve its image by undertaking certain reforms.
Mr Badawi’s sister, Samar Badawi, as well as activist Nassima al-Sadah, released in 2021, remain stranded in the kingdom.
A Sunni Muslim like most Saudis, Raif Badawi studied economics and ran an institute for learning English and computer skills, according to his wife.
Known for his writings in support of freedom of expression, the blogger won the 2014 Reporters Without Borders prize in the net-citizen category.
He was also awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom by the European Parliament in 2015, and in 2015 and 2016, he was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
