Saudi's Perfidy: Ten Years In Prison and 1,000 Lashes In Public For Seeking to "Respect the Differences Among Us"

by

Abby Zimet, staff writer

 

The same day the Saudi Arabian Ambassador marched in Paris against the attack on Charlie Hebdo and free speech, his country - the one that regularly persecutes and jails writers, artists, activists and intellectuals for expressing their views, that seeks to try women drivers as terrorists, and that just declared a fatwa against snowmen - dragged blogger Raif Badawi shackled from his jail cell and flogged him 50 times in the public square at Jeddah's al-Jafali mosque for "insulting Islam" through his website, Saudi Arabian Liberals, which offered social and political debate. It was the first of 20 such scheduled "severe" floggings, to total 1,000 lashes over 20 weeks. 

Badawi's sentence last May also called for ten years in prison, a ten-year travel ban, a hefty fine and a lifetime ban from media outlets. His lawyer was also sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The sentence  and lashings have prompted international outrage, a sustained campaign by Amnesty International, #‎FreeRaif‬ and #‎RaifBadawi‬ campaigns online, a tepid responsefrom a U.S. State Department that is "greatly concerned" and a likewise mild response from Canada - where Badawi's wife and children have settled in Montreal after receiving political asylum - which says it has "raised his case...as part of an ongoing, respectful dialogue" withthe Saudis. Today, supporters held a vigil in Montreal, where they and Badawi's familydemanded he be freed. Yesterday, he marked his 31st birthday in jail. On Friday, presumably, he will once more be dragged from his cell and publicly, severely whipped 50 times. His wife worries he will not survive many more. In one of his last blog posts, insisting that "as part of humanity" we all have the same duties and the same rights, he urged, "Let us all live under the roof of human civilization.” Help him to live, period, here.

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2015/01/13/saudis-perfidy-ten-years-prison-and-1000-lashes-public-seeking-respect