Yahoo – AFP,
Arnaud Bouvier with Bryan McManus in Brussels, October 29, 2015
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An Amnesty
International activist holds a picture of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi
during a
protest against his flogging punishment on January 29, 2015 in front of
Saudi
Arabia's embassy to Germany in Berlin. The 30-year-old Saudi has been
sentenced
to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam and is serving a 10-year jail term - a
case which has drawn widespread international criticism. (AFP Photo/Tobias Schwarz)
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Strasbourg
(France) (AFP) - Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes
and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European
Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on Thursday.
The
31-year-old, who was arrested in 2012, is an outspoken advocate of free speech
whose public flogging in January triggered international outrage when he was
subjected to a first round of 50 lashes.
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European
Parliament head Martin Schulz
called on Saudi King Salman to
immediately release blogger Raif
Badawi (AFP Photo/Thierry Charlier)
|
"This
man has had... imposed on him one of the most cruel penalities which can only
be described as brutal torture," Schulz said. "I call on the Saudi
king to immediately free him."
Watchdog
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) echoed the call, urging King Salman to pardon
the father of three.
Badawi, who
co-founded the Saudi Liberal Network Internet discussion group, was detained in
2012 on cyber crime charges.
Like most
Saudis, Badawi is a Sunni Muslim but his network had announced a "day of
liberalism" and called for an end to the influence of religion on public
life in the kingdom.
He was
arrested and the website shut down on grounds it criticised Saudi Arabia's
notorious religious police.
He was
initially charged in 2013, and last year a Saudi court sentenced him to 1,000
lashes and 10 years in jail.
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Saudi
blogger Raif Badawi,
photographed in 2012
(AFP Photo)
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"I
hope that this prize is going to help advance" Badawi's cause and allow
him to rejoin his family, Haidar told AFP.
She said
she had not spoken to him in six days and was not sure if he even knew that he
had won the prize. "When I last spoke with him his morale was low, so I
hope this news gives him hope," she said.
'A
message to his torturers'
The award
was also hailed by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) which
said he had played a major role in promoting freedom of expression and
attempting to foster public debate in Saudi Arabia.
"Raif
has spoken up for all Saudis who simply dream of enjoying the same rights as
other human beings. He has paid dearly for his commitment and this Sakharov
Prize sends a clear and strong message to his torturers," said FIDH
president Karim Lahiji.
Born on
January 13, 1984, Badawi studied economics then went on to run an
English-language and computer learning institute, says Haidar, who married him
in 2001.
He
eventually found his calling as a writer, focusing on free speech.
The network
that he co-founded was described by Paris-based RSF as "an online
discussion network whose aim is to encourage political, religious and social
debates in Saudi Arabia".
 |
Supporters
of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi protest in Paris against his sentence of
1,000 lashes
for "insulting Islam", on May 7, 2015 (AFP Photo/Stephane de Sakutin)
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In a blog
posting last year which was translated into English, Badawi wrote: "It
requires courage to respect others' views, to appreciate others' beliefs and
choices along with their right to believe them."
RSF named
Badawi as one of three winners of its press freedom prize last year.
Sentence
upheld
After his
arrest, a court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah sentenced him in 2013 to seven
years in jail and 600 lashes for insulting Islam and setting up the liberal
network.
An appeals
court overturned the original verdict, sending Badawi's case back for retrial
with his sentence increased last year to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. The
sentence was upheld by a Saudi court in June.
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Ensaf Haidar, wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, in Berlin on May 21,
2015 prior to the Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Awards
2015 ceremony (AFP Photo/John Macdougall)
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Britain on
Wednesday announced that a Briton facing the threat of flogging in Saudi Arabia
for being caught with home-made wine is to be released from custody.
The
prestigious Sakharov human rights prize is given every year to honour
individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression.
Last year,
it was awarded to Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for helping victims of gang
rapes by soldiers.
Past
winners include Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, late South
African president Nelson Mandela and Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
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Protesters call for the release of Raif Badawi outside the Saudi embassy
in The Hague, Netherlands. Photograph: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/Rex
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