Dansk PEN: Benåd Raif Badawi

International PEN:Dansk PEN protesterer mod Saudi-Arabiens højesterets stadfæstelse af dommen over Raif Badawi.

Dansk PEN er dybt rystede over nyheden om, at Saudi Arabisens højesteret har stadfæstet den groteske dom over den saudiske redaktør og blogger Raif Badawi. Vi opfordrer nu kong Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud til ufortøvet at benåde Badawio-RAIF-BADAWI-facebook Badawi blev i april 2014 idømt ti års fængsel, en bøde på 1,6 mio. dollars, ti års tab af civile rettigheder samt 1000 stokkeslag, eksekveret hver uge på en offentlig plads efter fredagsbønnen, med 50 slag ad gangen. Badawi blev fængslet i 2012, anklaget for at have fornærmet islam og for at have etableret en hjemmeside, hvorfra han opfordrede til dannelse af et netværk for kritisk tænkning. Dansk PEN mener at dommen over Badawi er en klar krænkelse af hans ytringsfrihed. Den 9. januar 2015 modtog Raif Badawi de første 50 stokkeslag. Det medførte en bred international fordømmelse og siden da er stokkeslagene blevet midlertidigt udsat.

Dansk PEN har siden januar demonstreret hver torsdag, sammen med Amnesty Internationals danske afdeling, foran den Saudi Arabiske ambassade i København. Vi har desuden, ligeledes sammen med Amnesty, skrevet gentagende gange til den saudiske konge og til landets ambassadør i Danmark i protest mod dommen over Badawi og hans advokat Waleed Abu al-Khair, der er idømt 15 års fængsel for at forsvare sin klient. Vi har skrevet til den danske udenrigsminister og til Danmarks repræsentation i Geneve i håb om, at de ville rejse sagen overfor de saudiske myndigheder. Foreløbig er intet sket.

Det er skuffende og dybt foruroligende, at domstolen har valgt at fastholde dommen over Raif Badawi. Hans tekster og protester har hele vejen igennem været fredelige og han har blot gjort brug af sin ret til at tænke og tale frit, som den er udtrykt i FNs menneskerettighedserklæring. Dommen er ude af proportioner og må opfattes som statuering af et eksempel, der har til hensigt at skræmme enhver politisk eller kulturel opposition i landet.

Dansk PEN har skrevet til Kong Salman og appelleret til, at han går ind i denne sag og sikrer, at Raif Badawi ikke udsættes for yderligere stokkeslag, samt at han benytter sig af sin mulighed for at få Raif Badawi og Waleed Abu al-Khair frigivet. Vi opfordrer desuden den danske regering til at følge Sveriges eksempel. Regeringen bør klart og utvetydigt protestere mod dommen overfor de saudiske myndigheder, samt i lyset af Saudi-Arabiens massive krænkelser af menneskerettighederne, tage de danske relationer til landet op til fornyet overvejelse.

Raif Badawi er æresmedlem af Dansk PEN.

Demonstration ved ambassaden hver torsdag ml. 16.30 og 17.00

Sammen med Amnesty Internationals danske afdeling har medlemmer af Dansk PEN siden januar demonstreret foran den Saudi Arabiske ambassade hver torsdag kl. 16.30 til 17.00. Med søndagens afgørelse er disse protester, der foregår verden over, blot blevet vigtigere.

Ambassadens adresse er Omøgade 8, på Østerbro I København.

Vi håber at rigtig mange vil være med til at protestere nu på torsdag, den 11. juni. Og alle de følgende torsdage. Man er også meget velkommen til at sende en skriftlig protest til ambassaden.

International PEN’s RAPID ACTION 08 June 20 / Update #8 to RAN 02/13 

Saudi Arabia: Supreme Court confirms sentence of editor Raif Badawi  On 7 June 2015, the Saudi Supreme Court confirmed the sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes imposed on editor Raif (or Raef) Badawi after conviction of “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website.” The 7 June 2015 decision of the Supreme Court is final. Badawi received the first 50 of 1,000 lashes in January 2015, however all subsequent sessions scheduled to take place weekly have been postponed.

PEN International continues to call for Badawi’s conviction to be overturned and for him to be released immediately and unconditionally and for his sentence of flogging to be halted immediately, as it violates the absolute prohibition in international law against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

PEN International also reiterates its call for the release of Badawi’s lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence in connection with his peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.

For extracts of Raif Badawi’s writings in English and Arabic click here 

TAKE ACTION: Share on FaceBook, Twitter and other social media Please send appeals: 〈         Urging the Saudi Arabian authorities to release Raif Badawi and his lawyer Walid Abu al-Khair immediately and unconditionally as they are being held solely for their peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression;

〈         Calling for Raif Badawi’s sentence of flogging to be overturned immediately as it violates the absolute prohibition in international law against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

〈         In the meantime, calling for both men to be granted all necessary medical treatment and access to their families and lawyers of their choice;

〈         Calling on Saudi Arabia to ratify, without reservation, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Appeals to be sent to:

His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al SaudThe Custodian of the two Holy MosquesOffice of His Majesty the KingRoyal Court, RiyadhKingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 1 403 3125

Salutation: Your Majesty

Crown Prince and Minister of the InteriorHis Royal Highness Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al SaudMinistry of the Interior

P.O.Box 2933,

Airport Road, Riyadh 11134

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: +966 1 403 3125

Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of JusticeHis Excellency Shaykh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkareem Al-Issa Ministry of Justice, University Street Riyadh 11137 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Fax: + 966 1 401 1741 + 966 11 402 0311 Salutation: Your Excellency

Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for Saudi Arabia in your country if possible.

***Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 08 July 2015. Please send us copies of any appeals you send and of any responses you receive***

Background Raef Badawi was arrested on 17 June 2012 in Jeddah after organising a conference to mark a “day of liberalism”. The conference, which was to have taken place in Jeddah on 7 May, was banned by the authorities. On 29 July 2013, a court in Jeddah sentenced Badawi to seven years and three months in prison and 600 lashes after he was convicted under the information technology law of “founding a liberal website,” “adopting liberal thought” and for “insulting Islam”. The online forum, Liberal Saudi Network – created to foster political and social debate in Saudi Arabia – was ordered closed by the judge. According to reports, the appeal, submitted by Badawi’s lawyer, Walid Abu al-Khair, cited procedural and evidential reasons why the conviction should be overturned and Badawi should be freed.

In December 2013, it was reported that the Court of Appeal had reversed the ruling of the District Court in Jeddah, ordering that Badawi’s case be sent for review by another court. Badawi, who suffers from diabetes, is reported to be in poor health. On 7 May 2014, Jeddah’s Criminal Court sentenced Badawi to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals (approx. US$266,631) on charges of ‘insulting Islam’ and ‘founding a liberal website.’ According to PEN’s information, when Badawi appeared in court to collect a written account of the verdict on 28 May 2014 he discovered the insertion of two additional penalties: a 10-year travel ban and 10-year ban from participating in visual, electronic and written media, both to be applied following his release.

For more information about his case, please read PEN’s interview with his wife Ensaf Haidar here.

According to the Centre For Inquiry (CFI), in an article dated 17 September 2014, the Saudi appeals court in Mecca confirmed the sentence against Badawi, and ordered that the lashes should be administered 50 at the time, in public, every week after Friday Prayers. The first 50 lashes were given outside al-Jafali mosque in the port city of Jeddah on 9 January 2015. The following week, the authorities postponed Badawi’s flogging on medical grounds after a doctor said wounds from the previous lashing had not healed.

On 16 January 2015 his wife Ensaf Haider, who lives in Canada with the couple’s three young children, said that King Abdullah had referred the case to the Supreme Court. On 1 March, Ensaf Haider said that she had received information that Badawi could face the death penalty.  The same day, his family posted the following information on Facebook: ‘We … received confirmed information that the Supreme Court has referred Raif case to the same judge, who sentenced Raif with flogging and 10 years imprisonment. This judge is biased against Raif. He has twice requested that Raif be charged with ‘apostasy’.

His request was declined at the time on the ground that the Criminal court has no jurisdiction on cases that lead to death penalty. However, due to a new regulation issued by the Supreme Judicial Council on 19.09.2014, the Penal court has now jurisdiction over major cases, which are punishable by the death penalty, amputation and stoning. We have reasons to believe without any doubts that the same judge has again asked the Head of the Court of Apeal [sic] to charge Raif with ‘Apostasy’. It should be mentioned that this judge stated in his written verdict against Raif, that he has proof and is confident that Raif is an apostate’

On 7 June 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed Badawi’s sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, as well as a 10-year travel ban following his release.

PEN International is also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Badawi’s lawyer, Waleed Abu Al-Khair who was arrested on 15 April 2014. Waleed Abu Al-Khair is a lawyer, human rights activist and founding member of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA) who has also written many articles.

On 4 February 2014, the Court of Appeal confirmed a three-month sentence against Abu Al-Khair imposed after he had been convicted of contempt of the judiciary. According to PEN’s information, Abu Al-Khair was arrested at the Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh while he attended the fifth session of his trial for other charges made against him in 2013, which include: “breaking allegiance to and disobeying the ruler and disrespecting the authorities”, “offending the judiciary”, “inciting international organisations against the Kingdom” and “founding an unlicensed organization” (Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia), and supervising it and contributing to the establishment of another (the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association – ACPRA); and “preparing, storing and sending material harmful to public order”. Initially held in Al Hair prison, where there were concerns that he may have been subjected to ill-treatment, Abu al-Khair was transferred on 27 May 2014 to Briman prison in Jeddah.

On 6 July 2014, the Specialized Criminal Court, Saudi Arabia’s terrorism tribunal, sentenced him to 10 years’ actual imprisonment, with another five years’ imprisonment which were suspended, a 15-year ban on travel abroad, and a fine of 200,000 Saudi Riyals (equivalent to approximately US$53,000) on a number of broad and vaguely worded charges that are believed to stem solely from his peaceful activism, including comments to news outlets and on Twitter criticizing Saudi human rights violations. On 11 August 2014 he was moved again to al-Malaz prison in Riyadh, over 960 kilometers from his family in Jeddah The Public Prosecutor appealed the sentence at the Court of Appeal in Riyadh, which on 15 January 2015 ruled that he should serve the entire 15-year sentence in prison, on the grounds that he had not shown any contrition for his “offence”. According to MHRSA, Abu al-Khair refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court or defend himself against the charges. He also refused to sign a copy of the trial judgment or to appeal the conviction or his sentence. MHRSA stated on 12 August 2014 that it believes his prison transfers are a punitive measure for Abu al-Khair’s refusal to recognize the court.

Abu Al-Khair is the recipient of the 2012 Olof Palme Prize. Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’. Criminalisation of the peaceful criticism of public officials and institutions violates international human rights law. Corporal punishment such as flogging also violates the absolute prohibition under international law of all forms of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 18 of the UDHR states that, ‘[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief’.

For further information, please contact Cathy McCann at PEN International, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6ER, Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, Email: cathy.mccann@pen-international.org