Published12 March 2022, 02:11
Saudi blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, who has become a symbol of freedom of speech around the world, was released on Friday after 10 years in prison for “insulting Islam”.
AFP
“Raif called me, he’s free,” his wife Ensaf Haidar told AFP in a very emotional way on Friday. The news, confirmed by a Saudi Arabian security official to AFP on condition of anonymity: “Yes, he was released today,” the source said, without elaborating.
“I jumped everywhere when I was studying. I didn’t believe anymore. I can’t wait to see my dad, he’s so excited,” one of his daughters, 18-year-old Najwa Badawi, told AFP.
The former Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Award winner, now 38, was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced in late 2014 to ten years in prison and 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks for speaking , in particular, for the end of the influence of religion on public life.
The first flogging in a square in Saudi Arabia in 2015 shocked the world with its “medieval” character, in the words of the then Swedish minister. After that, he was no longer flogged.
“Raif Badawi, human rights activist in Saudi Arabia, finally released!” Amnesty International Canada tweeted on Friday, speaking of “welcome news”: “You have mobilized on our side in defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. Many thanks to all of you for your tireless support,” the NGO added.
For Colette Lelièvre, who followed the Canadian Amnesty International case, this is a “great relief”. After a phone call from Raif Badawi, Ensaf was at a loss for words because it was too unexpected. She has worked so hard to free her husband that she is overwhelmed with emotion,” she told AFP on Friday.
Prohibition to leave the territory
Ensaf Haidar, who became a Canadian citizen, lives in Quebec, 150 kilometers from Montreal, with three children. She told AFP in February that she was able to keep in touch with her husband by talking to him “up to three times a week” on the phone.
She fought for years for his release and for him to join them. Quebec set the stage for Raif Badawi’s expulsion to Canada by placing him on a list of priority potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons. But Amnesty recalls that the Saudi blogger is currently banned from leaving the kingdom for ten years after serving his sentence.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter on Friday that he was “relieved to see the release of Raif Badawi.” Earlier, Quebec Prime Minister François Legault tweeted: “Finally! I keep thinking about the children who will finally find their father!”
The brutal crackdown on dissidents and the imprisonment of activists in Saudi Arabia is to this day condemned by international non-governmental organizations and the UN, even as the kingdom seeks to improve its international image through certain reforms.
Raif Badawi’s sister, Samar Badawi, and activist Nassima al-Sadah, who was released in 2021, remain stranded in the kingdom.
A Sunni Muslim like most Saudis, Raif Badawi studied economics and ran an institute for English and computer science, according to his wife. He loves to read and is known for his pro-free speech writing.
The blogger won the 2014 RSF Prize in the Netizen category. He was also chosen in 2015 by the leaders of political groups in the European Parliament as a laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Speech. In 2015 and 2016, he was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
(AFP)