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 may not be able to leave Arab country
- 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 UN
- His wife and mother of his three children Ensaf Haidar held a weekly vigil for him
- Mr Badawi’s release is confirmed but he may face 10 year ban on foreign travel
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 may not be able to leave Arab country for 10 years.
Mr 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.’
It is unclear if he will be free to leave the country as he could face a 10 year ban on travel outside the Arab nation.
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!’
No details of Badawi’s release conditions were immediately available.
But Amnesty noted that the Saudi blogger could still face a 10-year ban on all travel outside Saudi Arabia, as this had been part of his original sentence.
The NGO added 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.
No details of Mr Badawi’s release conditions were immediately available.
‘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.
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