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Showing posts with the label Raif Badawi

If Saudi Arabia's crown prince means what he says, he should free Raif Badawi

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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad Ben Salman has vowed to return the kingdom to "moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world". If he means it, his first step should be to release Raif Badawi –   the jailed Saudi blogger who was arrested and flogged in 2015 because he wrote what MBS is advocating today.

Raif Badawi awarded the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

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Saudi imprisoned blogger, Raif Badawi , was awarded the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought . Standing in front of the empty chair where he should have sat, his wife, Ensaf Haidar , held his picture up after making a very moving acceptance speech on his behalf. The European parliament website gives a detailed account of this emotional ceremony: “Raif Badawi was brave enough to raise his voice and say no to their barbarity. That is why they flogged him," said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of jailed Saudi human rights activist Raif Badawi, accepting the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on his behalf in Strasbourg on Wednesday 16 December. Badawi was honored by the European Parliament for his fight for freedom of speech and thought in Saudi Arabia. "Free-thinking Arabs are used to concealing their ideas to get them through," Ensaf Haidar said, quoting her husband during the ceremony in Strasbourg. "Free and enlightened ideas are considered blasphemou...

Les droits de l’homme selon Tartuffe*

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Mais où sont ces droits-de-l’hommistes acharnés, ces défenseurs farouches de la liberté, ces pourfendeurs de dictatures, ces journalistes contre la violence, ces intellectuels brillants, ces révoltés des beaux quartiers, ces révolutionnaires des salons chics de Beyrouth ? Où sont-il donc ? Où est donc leur plume d’habitude si prompte à l’indignation ? Où sont donc leurs diatribes cicéroniennes sur la morale et le droit ? Et leur formules cinglantes de gens qui ont lu des livres et qui peuvent citer de mémoire deux ou trois philosophes suédois ? Et leurs traits de génie si populaires à l’applaudimètre des cons ? L’Arabie saoudite est nommée à la tête du Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations Unies... Non, ce n’est pas le titre d’un article du Gorafi, ni une couverture de Charlie Hebdo, encore moins une vanne du sémillant fiston Bedos. C’est la triste et lamentable réalité d’un monde imbécile, corrompu, hypocrite et criminel.

Raif Badawi : L’appel à l’aide émouvant d’Ensaf Haidar

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Ensaf Haidar, épouse du blogueur saoudien emprisonné Raif Badawi, a lancé dans le quotidien belge Le Soir , un appel à l’aide émouvant. Je joins ma voix à la sienne et publie cet appel dans son intégralité. "Aujourd’hui, des millions de personnes dans le monde connaissent le nom de mon mari, Raif Badawi. Toute cette attention est encourageante, mais ce pourquoi il est connu me choque profondément. Raif a été arrêté il y a trois ans jour pour jour dans notre pays, l’Arabie saoudite, juste parce qu’il a exprimé ses idées – il a pris son clavier et créé son site internet. C’est une personne qui aime la vie et adore la liberté, et cela lui a valu la plus dure des peines. Il est enfermé depuis 2012, purge une peine de 10 ans de prison et a déjà reçu 50 coups de fouet en public sur une peine effroyablement cruelle de 1.000 coups – un nombre de coups que personne ne supporterait. Depuis que la Cour suprême d’Arabie saoudite a récemment confirmé sa condamnation, une décision don...

Raif Badawi, one year on...

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One year ago, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in jail. “It is truly tragic that a whole year has passed since Raif Badawi received this cruel and unjust sentence. He is clearly being punished for daring to exercise his right to freedom of expression,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Raif Badawi, flogged because he blogged

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What can one say? Are there any words that can describe the sheer horror of a young man being flogged fifty times because he expressed his opinion on the internet like so many of us do?   Fifty times! And that was only the first round. Many more are supposed to follow. As many as one thousand lashes need. One thousand lashes! That’s the full sentence rendered by a Saudi court against Raif Badawi, a thirty-one years old blogger and father of three. If in each round he receives fifty lashes, Raif will have to endure twenty more rounds. Twenty more rounds!  How long does it take to flog someone fifty times? Few minutes, half an hour, an hour? An eternity of pain for the tortured blogger…  For what exactly? What did this young man do to deserve such a terrible and humiliating punishment? What was his crime? Did he call for the overthrow of the monarchy? Did he produce homegrown porn? Was he part of some terrorist organization? Or did he simply express his long...