Raif Badawi
Raif bin Muhammad Badawi is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and brought to court on several charges, including apostasy. In 2013, he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison, and 600 lashes. In 2014 his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of one million Saudi riyals. The flogging was to be carried out over 20 weeks. The first 50 lashes were administered on 9 January 2015. The second flogging was postponed more than twelve times. The reason for the most recent postponement is unknown, but the previous scheduled floggings were delayed due to Badawi's poor health. Badawi is known to have hypertension, and his health worsened after the flogging began.
His wife, Ensaf Haidar, who took refuge in Canada after her life was threatened in Saudi Arabia, said that Badawi would not survive further flogging. Ensaf Haidar has given a series of televised interviews about Badawi's plight, including at the 2016 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
The Canada-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights acts as Badawi's international legal counsel. The organization has led both public advocacy campaigns as well as private diplomatic efforts to help secure Badawi's release from prison.
While his exact location was unknown, it was reported that Badawi was imprisoned in Dhahban Central Prison. On 11 March 2022, his family reported that after 10 years Badawi was released from prison. While he is no longer in prison, his 10 years passport ban continues and he may not leave the country. Al Jazeera quoted an anonymous interior ministry official as saying on 12 March, "the sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final.... He cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a pardon is issued."
Early life
Raif Badawi was born on 13 January 1984 in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, to Najwa, a Lebanese Christian mother, and Muhammad Badawi, a Saudi Muslim. His Saudi grandmother explained to him at a young age that Saudi society historically was not as strict and men and women used to work together in the fields.Badawi's mother died young at an unknown age. He was presumed to be raised by his father and grandmother, who had low income. Badawi attended school until the age of thirteen when his father reported him for parental disobedience, a crime in Saudi Arabia, and spent six months in a teenage detention centre: subsequent bullying, Wahhabi indoctrination, and flogging caused him to be scarred deeply.
Free Saudi Liberals
Influence by reading and Diwaniya
Badawi started an online forum known as "Saudi Liberal Network" on 13 August 2006.He was influenced by numerous books by Arab authors who refused to view the world from a purely religious standpoint, including The Universe Judges God by Abdullah al-Qasemi, Arab Culture in the Age of Globalization by Turki al-Hamad, and Prisoner 32 by Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, an author whom Raif admires deeply and who had taken him under his wing.
Additionally he was influenced by Diwaniya, a traditional evening meeting of journalists, poets, thinkers, philosophers, and authors who all shared and discussed the dream of a more open, tolerant, secular, and liberal society in Saudi Arabia. Raif frequented these meetings where he expressed his hopes for the development of civil society and the lessening of oppression in the name of religion. He sought to make Saudi citizens aware of their rights and responsibilities so that they would demand their rights.
Headlines, apostasy, indirect criticism, and the Mutawwa
Badawi's blog made headlines soon after it went online, as it was a space where Saudis could openly speak about liberalism in a conservative country where the king was known as the custodian of the two holiest sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina. He said, "To me, liberalism means simply to live and let live." Very few Saudis dared to publicly speak about liberalism, because it constitutes apostasy, a crime punishable by death; but Raif believed that freedom was worth the risk of such a sacrifice.On his blog Badawi protested actions of the Mutawwa, but never directly criticized them. He also never directly criticized the Saudi Government, as he considered himself a patriot and admired the King of Saudi Arabia. Posts on his blog primarily questioned and challenged the established rules of the kingdom, such as why women needed a male guardian to walk down the street or why it was so difficult for women to access the labor market and employment. Badawi also questioned the logic of requiring all Saudis to believe in Islam. Despite his Muslim faith, he stated that Islam cannot explain everything and people should be free to believe in whatever religion they choose to follow. He explained to others in a Diwaniya meeting that they are human beings and that they have the right to express themselves and think what they want to.
By the end of 2007, Badawi's blog had at least 2,000 members that debated on the methods of governing Saudi Arabia. Badawi's writings were not tolerated by the religious police who arrested him in late 2007. For many hours Badawi was interrogated regarding his activities, but was eventually released with no charges made against him. Unsatisfied by the interrogation, the religious police made a surprise raid at Badawi's home a few days later to search for forbidden books, but left with nothing. The religious police began to interrogate Badawi frequently, frightening his wife, Ensaf Haidar, despite Badawi's frequent attempts to reassure her that the interrogations would not lead to charges and punishment, and that the police had nothing on him.
Trials and sentences
Arrest, trial and first sentence
First detained on apostasy charges in 2008, Badawi was released after a day of questioning. He was prevented from leaving Saudi Arabia, and both his and his wife's bank accounts were frozen in 2009. The family of Badawi's wife subsequently filed a court action to forcibly divorce the couple on grounds of Badawi's alleged apostasy. On 17 June 2012, he was arrested on a charge of "insulting Islam through electronic channels", and the following December he was also cited for apostasy, a conviction which carries an automatic death sentence. However, Badawi was confirmed to be a Muslim after reciting the Shahada in court, and also stated that people should have the right to choose their faith. Human Rights Watch stated that Badawi's website had hosted material criticizing "senior religious figures". Badawi had also suggested that Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University had become "a den for terrorists."Following the 2012 arrest, Amnesty International designated Badawi a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression", and said: "Even in Saudi Arabia where state repression is rife, it is beyond the pale to seek the death penalty for an activist whose only 'crime' was to enable social debate online". Calling for the government to drop the charges, Human Rights Watch stated: "The charges against him, based solely to Badawi's involvement in setting up a website for peaceful discussion about religion and religious figures, violate his right to freedom of expression". Moroccan human rights activist Kacem El Ghazzali also criticized Saudi Arabia authority.
Charged with "setting up a website that undermines general security", "ridiculing Islamic religious figures", and "going beyond the realm of obedience", Badawi appeared before a district court in Jeddah on 17 December 2012. The judge referred the charge of apostasy to a higher court, saying he "could not give a verdict in a case of apostasy." On 22 December, the General Court in Jeddah found merits in the apostasy charges. And then it referred the case back to the lower court, as the latter is said to require the wisdom of higher court to try apostasy.
On 30 July 2013, Saudi media reported that Badawi had been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for founding an Internet forum that "violates Islamic values and propagates liberal thought". The court also ordered the website closed.
Sentence increased
On 26 December 2013, Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar told CNN a judge had ruled that her husband should go before a high court for the apostasy charge which would result in a death penalty if convicted. On 7May 2014, Badawi’s sentence was increased to 1000 lashes, 10 years in prison, and a fine of for "insulting Islam". In mid-January 2015, the case was passed to the Saudi Supreme Court for review. On 1 March 2015, Badawi's wife told reporters that judges in Saudi Arabia's criminal court wanted to retry him for apostasy, and that if found guilty he would be sentenced to death.Ensaf Haidar takes refuge in Canada
A few days after a court hearing, Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar started receiving anonymous death threats. She fled to Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada with their three children. On 27 January 2015, Canadian politician Marc Garneau announced in an opinion piece that he and his political colleague Irwin Cotler would " Badawi's wife in her efforts to save her husband." Addressing the UN Human Rights Council as a representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Kacem El Ghazzali criticized Saudi Arabia for sentencing Badawi to 7 years in prison and 600 lashes, calling it a "gratuitous, violent sentence".Prosecution and imprisonment of Badawi's lawyer
Badawi's lawyer Waleed Abulkhair was imprisoned after setting up Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi human rights organization. He is charged with "setting up an unlicensed organization" and "breaking allegiance with the ruler". His requests to license the organization were denied. On 7 July 2014, Abulkhair was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, followed by a 15-year travel ban. The Specialized Criminal Court in Jeddah found him guilty of "undermining the regime and officials", "inciting public opinion", and "insulting the judiciary".Abulkhair told BBC that Badawi had confirmed in court that he was a Muslim and had told the judge, "Everyone has a choice to believe or not believe."