Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Ottawa, SANA- Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird condemned the torture and ten-year prison sentence of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi as “a violation of human dignity and freedom of expression.”
Badawi, 31, was sentenced last May to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes for his online writings criticizing Al Saud ruling family.
Badawi endured the first 50 lashes, administered in public in front of a mosque in Jeddah, last Friday and is to endure 50 lashes every Friday until the sentence is complete.
An international campaign by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International has recently succeeded in drawing international attention to the plight of Badawi, who has been in prison in Saudi Arabia since 2012.
“Canada is deeply concerned by the public flogging of Raif Badawi,” said Baird, in a statement issued on Wednesday. “This punishment is a violation of human dignity and freedom of expression, and we call for clemency in this case.”
U.N. human rights office was “very concerned about the flogging” and that it has previously raised concerns about harsh sentences in Saudi Arabia for human rights defenders.
Badawi has been held since mid-2012 after he founded the Free Saudi Liberals blog. He used the blog to criticize the kingdom’s influential clerics who follow a strict Wahhabism, which originated in Saudi Arabia.
R. Milhem/ Ghossoun
