Raif Badawi

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Detained: June 17, 2012.

Charges: Violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought.

Sentence: 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, a fine of 1 million riyals (equal to about $266,000), and is banned from any media work or foreign travel for 10 years after his release from prison.
**Note: The sentence durations listed are according to the Hijri (Islamic Lunar) Calendar used by Saudi Arabia rather than the Gregorian Calendar.

Biography: Raif Badawi is the founder and editor of the Free Saudi Liberals website which encourages religious and political debate. In June 2012 he was arrested in Jeddah and charged with apostasy, "insulting Islam through electronic channels," and "parental disobedience." In January 2013, a Saudi court decided not to pursue the apostasy charge, which carries the death penalty in the Kingdom. On July 29, 2013 Badawi was sentenced by the court to 600 lashes, seven years in prison and his website was ordered closed. Badawi received five years for insulting Islam and violating provisions of Saudi Arabia's 2007 anti-cybercrime law through his liberal website, affirming that liberalism is akin to unbelief; two years for insulting both Islam and the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), or religious police, in comments during television interviews; and three months for "parental disobedience," apparently because of Badawi's numerous public confrontations with his father over the years. Badawi had appealed his original 2013 conviction and on May 8, 2014 after the retrial was ordered, was given a new sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes by a Saudi court for insulting Islam.
Badawi was named the 2015 Laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Raif Badawi has been CONDITIONALLY RELEASED.

Advocate: Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA)

Advocacy Partner: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Updates:

• MEPs raise blogger Badawi’s case during Saudi visit: On a visit to Saudi Arabia, Members of the European Parliament raised Raif Badawi’s case during a meeting with the president of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (February 8, 2016, AFP and Yahoo! News).

• Badawi was awarded the International Publishers Association’s Prix Voltaire for his contribution to freedom of speech. (April, 15, 2016, International Publishers Association)

• The Washington Post published an op-ed urging President Obama to speak up on behalf of Raif Badawi (April 17, 2016, The Washington Post).

• Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) called for Raif Badawi's release in a 1-minute statement delivered on the floor (April 18, 2016, C-SPAN).

• Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. James Risch wrote a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to advocate for the immediate release of Raif Badawi, during his visit to Saudi Arabia (April 19, 2016, U.S. Senate).

• United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has sent a letter to Saudi King Salman requesting a pardon for Badawi. USCIRF Chair Reese brought up the Badawi's case during the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on blasphemy laws (July 28, 2016, USCIRF).

• Canadian Foreign Minister Stehpane Dion will ask Saudi Arabia to release Badawi to Canada, where his family was given amnesty (November 3, 2016, Middle East Eye).  

• Rep. James P. McGovern delivered a 5-minute speech urging the immediate and unconditional release of Raif Badawi (May 22, 2017, U.S. House of Representatives). The text of the speech is available here.

• Badawi's children appealed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an Amnesty International video message calling for their father's release (June 2, 2017, Toronto Star).

• Raif Badawi to receive honorary degree for defense of free speech while stuck in prison (June 8, 2017, CBC News).

• Jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi may receive a royal pardon, five years after he was thrown in prison for "insulting Islam". MEPs recently told his wife, Ensaf Haidar, that Badawi is on "a list of people who would be forgiven by the king" (December 8, 2017, International Business Times).

• The Los Angeles Press Club will honor Raif Badawi with the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism. His wife, Ensaf Haidar, will receive the award at a June 24 gala on his behalf (March 26, 2018, Montreal Gazette).

• Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, expressed his “serious concern” over the continued imprisonment of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi to the kingdom’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz (April 24, 2018, The Guardian).

• The City of Montreal has made jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi an honorary citizen. The move is symbolic and doesn't grant him Canadian citizenship, but the municipal politicians who pushed for it say they hope it will generate support from other cities, further pressuring Saudi Arabian officials to release him. (May 28, 2018, CBC)

• Samar Badawi, sister of Raif Badawi, was arrested alongside fellow-campaigner Nassima al-Saddah in Saudi Arabia. Both are prominent gender rights activists (August 2, 2018, Deutsche Welle).

• The Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland has raised concerns about Raif Badawi's sister's arrest. This has spurred into wider foreign policy concerns between Canada and Saudi Arabia (August 6, 2018, Washington Post).

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised Raif Badawi's case when he spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at the G20 Summit. (December 1, 2018, CBC)

• The UN Committee against Torture called for the release of Raif Badawi and other Saudi activists, including his sister Samar. (December 12, 2018, Al Jazeera)

• The U.S. Senate passed S.J.Res.69, which calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to release Raif Badawi, his sister Samar, and other imprisoned activists (December 13, 2018, Congress.gov).

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau renewed calls for the release of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi after meeting his wife on Friday, calling the issue "a priority" for him and all Canadians (January 18, 2018, France24).

• Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi, met with U.S. lawmakers including Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA) to advocate on behalf of her husband (February 11, 2019, Global News).

• Nine Senators wrote a letter to King Salman, calling on him to pardon Raif Badawi and release other detained activists (March 17, 2019, Office of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).

• USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza called on authorities in Saudi Arabia to end the imprisonment of Raif Badawi (July 30, 2019, The Washington Times).

• Raif Badawi began a hunger strike as the conditions of his imprisonment have reportedly worsened. USCIRF called on the Saudi government to cease its mistreatment of Badawi and release him immediately.  The strike ended several days later after Badawi received a visit from a representative of the Saudi kingdom's human rights commission (September 20, 2019, DW and USCIRF; September 22, 2019, DW).

• USCIRF calls for the immediate release of Raif Badawi, condemning Saudi Arabia's intensified mistreatment of the religious prisoner of conscience (December 13, 2019).

• On the floor of the U.S. House, Rep. James P. McGovern again called for the immediate and unconditional release of Raif Badawi who spent his eighth birthday behind bars on January 13, 2020 (January 15, 2020). 

• Multiple reports have confirmed that Raif Badawi has not been heard from in more than a month, with mid-January marking the last time his family made contact with him (February 18, 2020, Time).

• It was reported that Raif Badawi was the subject of an assassination attempt from within Dhahban prison which prompted a hunger strike that was ended after a visit from the head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (September 1, 2020).

• In advance of Human Rights Day, TLHRC Co-Chair McGovern delivered a one-minute speech on the House floor to call for the Saudi Arabian government to immediately and unconditionally release Raif Badawi and all other Saudi prisoners of conscience (December 8, 2020).

• International legal counsel and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Irwin Coulter, alongside his colleague from the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights Brandon Silver, published an op-ed in the Washington Post noting possible new charges against Raif Badawi, "Opinion: Saudi Arabia is persecuting a peaceful blogger -- again. Silence could be disastrous" (March 9, 2021, Washington Post). 

• In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) called for the release of writer and human rights activist Raif Badawi (March 22, 2021). 

• The cases of Eman al-Nafjan, Samar Badawi, and Raif Badawi were highlighted in the September 2021 Washington Post op-ed "Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi was murdered three years ago. These Saudis are still being silenced" (September 30, 2021, Washington Post).

• Raif Badawi completed his ten year sentence on March 1, 2022 however, he remains in custody (March 10, 2022).

• Badawi was released on March 11, 2022 (March 11, 2022).

• Badawi is now subject to a ten year travel ban, preventing him from joining his family in Quebec, Canada (March 12, 2022).

• On April 26, 2022, Human Rights Watch submitted a letter to the European Commission with concerns over the European Union’s new partnership with Gulf nations. The letter addressed human rights concerns in the region, including the case of Raif Badawi (May 17, HRW).

• On May 4, 2022, Amnesty International launched the #LetThemFly campaign, calling for the end to punitive travel bans in Saudi Arabia. The campaign highlights 30 cases, including that of Raif Badawi (May 4, 2022, Amnesty International).

• On June 14, 2022, during a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) voiced his continued support for multiple Defending Freedoms Project prisoners of concience, including Raif Badawi, Senator Leila de Lima, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and Ahmed Mansoor (June 14, 2022).

• Co-Chair McGovern and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) published an op-ed in Newsweek calling for the end of Badawi's travel ban (July 1, 2022).

• On September 26, 2022, Amnesty International completed its "#LetThemFly" campaign, with nearly 100,000 individuals signing the petition which called on Saudi Arabia to "lift all travel bans imposed on human rights defenders" since its launch in May 2022. Loujain al-Hathloul and Raif Badawi were referenced as examples of cases where punitive travel bans were imposed on Saudi Arabian human rights defenders released from prison (September 26, 2022, Amnesty International).

• Waiting for Raif, a Canadian documentary film compiled over eight years detailing the effort to free Raif Badawi was released on November 4, 2022 (October 30, 2022, City News Everywhere - Montreal).

• On the one year anniversary of Badawi's conditional release, Reporters Without Borders published the article "One year after his release from prison, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is still not free", highlighting the restrictions that remain imposed upon him despite his release from prison (March 11, 2023, Reporters Without Borders).