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Quebec family of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi hope he will soon be released
Hurdles remain to reunite Badawi, jailed in Saudi Arabia in 2012,
with family in Eastern Townships
CBC News ·
Posted: Feb 26, 2022 4:53 PM ET
The family of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi says his release may be imminent, a decade after he was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for criticizing religious figures and promoting liberal views of Islam.
Badawi, whose wife and three children now live in Quebec's Eastern Townships, was arrested in 2012 and initially sentenced to 1,000 lashes, 10 years in prison and a fine of more than $340,000.
His story made international headlines in 2015 when, as part of that sentence, he was whipped 50 times in front of the al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah. The resulting international pressure forced the suspension of the remainder of his lashes, according to Amnesty International.
Now, after an unbearable wait, his family and supporters believe his release may be days away, as his 10-year sentence will have been served in full by Feb. 28.
"My father was always giving us hugs and I don't even remember," said his eldest daughter Najwa Badawi, who is now a student at the Cégep de Sherbrooke.
"It's not very normal that a child doesn't even remember her father's hugs anymore."
Najwa Badawi, the eldest daughter of Badawi, was just a young child when her father was first jailed
a decade ago. She's now 18 and a student at the Cégep de Sherbrooke. (Radio-Canada)
Family fighting to bring him to Canada
Former justice minister Irwin Cotler, who has served as international legal counsel to Badawi's family, said there are still legal hurdles that Saudi authorities would need to drop in order for the family to bring him to Canada.
"They would need to authorize that the other restrictions that were placed at the initial sentencing are no longer enforced," he said. That includes the fine and a 10-year travel ban.
"This is something that [his family has] been painfully awaiting now for 10 years," said Cotler. "I've seen it myself and seen the children — living deprived of their father has been very difficult."
Badwai's wife, Ensaf Haidar, shows a portrait of her husband as he is awarded the Sakharov Prize in Strasbourg, France, in this Dec, 16, 2015 file photo. (Christian Lutz/Associated Press)
Though progress has been slow, Saudi officials may wish to appear merciful in releasing Badawi now, according to Sylvana Al Baba Douaihy, a researcher at the society, law and religion research centre of l'Université de Sherbrooke.
"The crown prince [Mohammed bin Salman] has this ambition to repair his image and the image of the kingdom, which was pretty tarnished after the assasination of [Jamal] Khashoggi in 2018," she said.
'He should be proud'
While she awaits his return, Najwa Badawi says she makes the most of the short phone calls she gets with her father, even if they have to stick to surface-level conversations.
"We can't talk about real things because he's being listened to. He can't talk to us about how he's feeling," she said. "It's been 11 years that I haven't seen him. I don't know what he looks like and he doesn't know what we look like."
Najwa says her father should be proud that he fought to advance freedoms in his home country, despite the consequences. And inspired by her father, she hopes to study to become a lawyer.
"I want … to be able to defend people who are in his situation," she said. "If I can help people, he will be proud of me. It will make him happy."
There are several articles on this blog on both Raif Badawi and his sister Samar Badawi who was released from a Saudi prison last July after 3 years for fighting for civil rights for women.
Attack on mosque leaves at least 56 dead
A powerful blast has rocked a site of worship in northwest Pakistan
At least 56 people have been killed and almost 200 wounded following gunfire and an explosion at a mosque in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Friday, medics have said.
Updated reports from March 5th indicate 62 dead. ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the atrocity.
Many of the injured remain in critical condition, meaning that the death toll is likely to rise, according to the spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) who provided the figures.
The attack targeted the Kucha Risaldar Mosque in Peshawar’s old city at a time when Shia Muslim worshippers were gathering for Friday prayers.
Two gunmen initially opened fire at police officers outside the building, Peshawar’s Police Chief Mohammed Ejaz Khan has said.
One perpetrator and one officer were killed in the shootout, while the second attacker managed to make his way into the mosque and that’s when the blast went off, according to Khan. There were some 150 people inside, he added.
The office of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province governor later confirmed that the blast was a suicide bombing. Investigators have been working to establish details about the incident, which “seemed to be a suicide attack,” he said.
One of the survivors recalled that he was just entering the mosque when the blast threw him back into the street. “I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” he said.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the bombing, but both Islamic State and Pakistani Taliban have been active in the area, carrying out similar attacks.
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi still held after completing 10-year jail term
RSF - Reporters sans Frontier
After 10 years of imprisonment, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi should have been released from prison on 28 February, but he continues to be held in Dahaban Central Prison, North of Jeddah. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Saudi authorities to release Badawi immediately and allow him to join his family, who now live in Canada.
His wife, Ensaf Haidar, had been counting down the days to his release date on Twitter without knowing for sure whether he would be released when the date finally arrived. RSF has contacted the Saudi authorities, but received no immediate answer.
Badawi ran an online forum called Free Saudi Liberals in which he discussed religious and societal issues with exceptional openness. After his arrest in 2012, he was eventually convicted of insulting Islam and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, a fine of 1 million riyals and a 10-year ban on leaving the country after completing his jail term.
“Raif Badawi’s continued detention after 10 long years is outrageous. He should never have spent a single day behind bars, and now that he has completed the full sentence based on ludicrous charges, there is no legal basis for the Saudi authorities to continue to hold him. We call for Badawi’s immediate release as an urgent priority, and for him to be granted safe passage from the country to join his family abroad,” said RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire.
Based in Quebec since 2013, Haidar has never stopped campaigning for her husband’s release. She is now pinning her hopes on Canada, which could grant him Canadian citizenship and thereby facilitate his resettlement.
“The government now has a chance to stand in solidarity with us, alleviate our pain and recognize his singular contribution to the global human rights movement by granting him citizenship and securing his safe passage to be reunited with his family,” Haidar said in a recent tweet.
But Badawi will not be able to leave Saudi Arabia unless the 10-year travel ban is lifted. That is why Haidar has also written to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka MBS) requesting a royal pardon. “Your Royal Highness, I appeal to the father and husband that you are. Our family’s fate is in your hands,” she wrote.
In April 2020, Saudi Arabia announced the abolition of flogging as part of the “Vision 2030” reforms proposed by the crown prince, which also include human rights reforms. Of the 1,000 lashes to which Badawi was sentenced, he received an initial 50 lashes in April 2015. Subsequent sessions were planned but were never carried out.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 170th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
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