Raif Badawi

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Raif Badawi (2012)

Raif Muhammad Badawi ( Arabic رائف محمد بدوي, DMG Rāʾif Muḥammad Badawī ; * January 13, 1984 in al-Chubar ), also Raef Badawi , is a Saudi internet activist and political prisoner . Badawi founded the online forum "The Saudi Liberals" (الشبكة الليبرالية الحرة / aš-šabaka al-lībirāliyya al-ḥurra ), a website about politics and religion in Saudi Arabia. The state authorities responded with reprisals such as a travel ban and freezing of accounts. He was arrested in 2012 and sentenced in 2013 to 10 years imprisonment and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam”. He was publicly flogged for the first time in January 2015 .

Journalistic activity

On the website The Saudi Liberals "he called for Islam to be equated with other religions". In addition, "[he] pleads for a liberal state and thus for the right of everyone to freely choose their religion". He wrote about the relationship between state and religion:

“The state has no religion. That doesn't mean he's heretical. On the contrary, the state protects and upholds the law of all religions without discriminating against them, preferring them or proselytizing the faith of the majority. Liberalism is the vision of a free and good life for everyone. And this vision is in harmony with the divine religion, which always and at all times calls for goodness, love and peace. "

- Raif Badawi

Regarding the situation of women in Saudi Arabia, he wrote:

“Of course the liberal system has to be extended to other concepts such as human rights, equality and equal opportunities. If liberal women and men had not fought for it for decades, such concepts and ideas would not exist. "

- Raif Badawi

Criminal proceedings

On June 17, 2012 Badawi was arrested and prosecuted for apostasy against him . An Islamic legal opinion in March 2013 declared him an “unbeliever”. The court accused him of calling Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists equals, in violation of an anti-terror law that came into force in 2014. Article 1 of this law sees any questioning of Islam as a terrorist act, and Article 4 criminalizes the dissemination of such critical "content, slogans, symbols, messages [...] via audio, visual, print and all social media", up to the death penalty. On July 28, 2013, it was announced that he had been sentenced to seven years in prison and four times 150 lashes. In May 2014 the judgment was changed; A court sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment and 1,000 lashes and a fine of around € 194,000 for “insulting Islam”.

The execution of the life-threatening corporal punishment, which is to be spread over 20 weeks, began on January 9, 2015. After his first whipping with 50 lashes with a stick, he was so badly injured that the continuation had to be postponed a week later with another 50 lashes by order of the prison doctor.

His lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair , was sentenced to 15 years in prison, a travel ban of 15 years and a fine of 200,000 Saudi riyals (about 39,200 euros) after defending Badawi in the trial. He contacted international organizations in defense of his client. Among other things, he was charged with “disobedience to the ruler and the attempt to undermine his legitimacy ” and “damage to the reputation of the state through exchanges with international organizations”. Waleed Abu al-Khair has been in custody since April 2014, currently in Briman Prison in the coastal city of Jeddah . He said he was subjected to physical and mental torture while in detention.

In March 2015, it was announced that Badawi may face the death penalty for "apostasy". His wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives with their three children in Canada, asked the German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel on ZDF to stand up for her husband on the occasion of an imminent trip to Saudi Arabia: “I would like Vice Chancellor Gabriel to get in touch with those responsible in Saudi Arabia and asks them to release Raif. And not only about the release, but also that he can travel from Saudi Arabia to Canada ”. Gabriel announced that he would definitely speak to the Saudi Arabian government about human rights. He wanted to discuss the concrete commitment of the German government for Badawi "it makes sense not on television".

The spanking sentence was then suspended, but can be restarted at any time. On June 7, 2015, the country's highest court upheld the verdict as the final instance. In October 2016, his wife reported that she had learned from a confidential source that the next flogging was pending.

Badawi has high blood pressure and his health has deteriorated since the flogging began.

International reactions

Protest in Oslo (2015)
Jimmy Wales on Badawi at the "Day of Action for Raif" (June 17, 2015)

The till 2013 Human Rights Commissioner of the German Federal Government working Markus Löning ( FDP ) called the ruling "not only disproportionate but inhuman".

The European Parliament has called for the immediate release of Raif Badawi on February 12, 2015. The resolution, which was passed with a large majority, condemned the flogging "with all severity as a cruel and shocking act by the Saudi Arabian authorities".

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government-affiliated organization in the United States, was “ deeply concerned” about the judgment.

Amnesty International sees Badawi as a prisoner of conscience convicted of peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. Amnesty called on the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel ( SPD ), to stand up for Badawi and publicly name the human rights violations as torture . During his visit to Saudi Arabia in early March 2015, Gabriel presented the Saudi king with a letter from Badawi's wife. Amnesty International addressed an international petition directly to King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz († 2015) and other representatives and dignitaries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia such as the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in Berlin, Ossama bin Abdul Majed Shobokshi . In August 2015 , the German Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Dschubeir for a “human solution” to the case.

The writers' organization PEN Center Germany made Badawi an honorary member in November 2014. The PEN has been campaigning for Badawi since 2012.

Two Norwegian MPs proposed Raif Badawi for the Nobel Peace Prize in February 2015 . In the same year the European Parliament awarded him the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The official award ceremony took place in his absence on December 16, 2015 in the plenary hall of the European Parliament. Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar accepted the award on their behalf.

On January 12, 2016, Raif Badawi's sister, Samar Badawi , who was running the Twitter account demanding her brother's release, was arrested. She was released shortly after on bail, but was arrested again in early August 2018. After the Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland criticized this in a Twitter message and demanded their release, the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh expelled the Ambassador of Canada, Dennis Horak , from the country on August 6, 2018 and at the same time withdrew the Saudi Arabian envoy from Ottawa .

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has been presenting the Raif Badawi Award , named after him, since 2015 , which honors journalists who campaign for freedom rights in the Muslim world. In 2016 Raif Badawi was awarded the Prix ​​Voltaire of the International Publishers Union .

Awards

  • Sakharov Prize 2015
  • Raif Badawi was honored with the Freedom of Speech Award from Deutsche Welle, which was presented for the first time in 2015 .
  • Awarded the Courage Award (courage / bravery price) 2015 at the Geneva summit for human rights and democracy.
  • The Scottish Secular Society awarded him the 2015 Aikenhead Prize.
  • Awarded the One Humanity Award 2014 from PEN Canada.
  • Awarded the 2014 Reporters Without Borders Internet User Award.
  • Honorary member of PEN Canada.
  • Honorary member of PEN Denmark.
  • Honorary member of PEN Germany.
  • Nominated for the Freedom Prize 2014, which is awarded every year by the liberal international association of liberal parties (P-LIB).
  • Nominated for the Freedom of Publication Prize 2014, awarded by the International Publishers Union.
  • Nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • Deschner Prize 2016 (together with his wife)
  • Günter Wallraff Prize for journalism criticism

Fonts

See also

literature

  • Alexandra Eul: #FreeRaif. You don't give up. His wife and children fight for his release from Canada, in Emma , 335, November – December 2017, pp. 74–77 (with photos)

Web links

Commons : Raif Badawi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b 1000 blows with the stick: The highest Saudi court upholds judgment against Badawi. In: Spiegel Online. June 7, 2015, accessed June 7, 2015 .
  2. ^ A b c d Katharina Kühn: Dangerous texts. Die Zeit , March 5, 2015, accessed on August 23, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Saudi Arabia uses capital offence of 'apostasy' to stifle debate. Amnesty International, December 24, 2012, accessed October 10, 2013 .
  4. ↑ www.hrw.org Human Rights Watch “Saudi Arabia: New Terrorism Regulations Assault Rights,” March 20, 2014
  5. ↑ See Saudi Arabia's new law equates atheists with terrorists . In: Huffington Post April 1, 2014 and Saudi Arabia: New Terrorism Regulations Assault Rights. In: Human Rights Watch, March 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ Christoph Sydow: Saudi Arabia: Seven years imprisonment and 600 lashes for bloggers. Spiegel Online, July 31, 2013, accessed October 10, 2013 .
  7. ↑ AFP / jst: Saudi Arabia: A thousand lashes for human rights activists. In: Sueddeutsche.de. May 8, 2014, accessed May 8, 2014 .
  8. ↑ 1000 lashes for criticism of Islam - human rights activists protest against punishment for Saudi bloggers. In: Spiegel online. January 10, 2015, accessed January 11, 2015 .
  9. ↑ "We mourn with you, but ..." In: zeit.de. January 9, 2015, accessed January 11, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Detention of human rights activists confirmed. In: amnesty.de. January 13, 2015, accessed March 11, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Saudi Arabian blogger: Raif Badawi faces the death penalty. In: Spiegel Online. Retrieved March 3, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Katrin Kinzelbach : Don't let up in the Badawi case. In: time online. March 24, 2015, accessed March 27, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Raif Badawi threatens further torture. In: faz.net. October 19, 2016, accessed December 11, 2016 .
  14. ↑ David Ljunggren: Wife of flogged Saudi blogger Raif Badawi says his health is worsening. In: FaithWorld. Thomson Reuters, February 2, 2015, accessed March 14, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Human rights commissioner appalled by verdict for bloggers in Saudi Arabia. Federal Foreign Office, July 31, 2013, accessed February 14, 2014 .
  16. ^ Badawi case in the EU Parliament. ORF, February 12, 2015, accessed on April 4, 2015 .
  17. ↑ USCIRF Condemn's Saudi Blasphemy Sentence. USCIRF, July 31, 2013; archived from the original on August 5, 2013 ; accessed on October 10, 2013 (English).
  18. ↑ Torture sentence for Saudi bloggers. Amnesty urges Gabriel to do personal support for bloggers. In: The time. January 19, 2015, accessed January 20, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Thomas Öchsner: Saudi Arabia: Gabriel is committed to Badawi. Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 8, 2015, accessed on March 8, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Urgent Action Raif Badawi threatens to be flogged - today! In: amnesty.de
  21. ^ Inaugural visit of the Saudi foreign minister in Berlin. Federal Foreign Office , August 10, 2015, accessed on November 16, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Current Honorary Members - Raef Badawi, Saudi Arabia. In: pen-deutschland.de. Retrieved March 11, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Saudi blogger Badawi nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. In: orf.at. February 1, 2015, accessed February 3, 2015 .
  24. ^ Raif Badawi, winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2015. In: europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved October 29, 2015 .
  25. ^ Saudi Arabia: Human rights activist Samar Badawi arrested. In: Spiegel Online , January 13, 2016
  26. ^ Sister of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi briefly detained in same prison. In: The Guardian . January 13, 2016, accessed August 6, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Christoph Sydow: The thin-skinned Crown Prince. Spiegel Online, August 6, 2018, accessed on the same day.
  28. ↑ Hanfeld, M. & Weidemann, A. (2018): Conversation with Rana Sabbagh : I am not a woman, I am not a man, I am a journalist. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 11, 2018. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/medien/gespraech-mit-rana-sabbagh-15831312.html
  29. ^ Prix ​​Voltaire - 2016 , accessed August 29, 2019.
  30. ^ Sakharov Prize. Raif Badawi - 2015, Saudi Arabia. European Parliament, October 29, 2015, accessed October 29, 2015 .
  31. ^ Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award goes to Raif Badawi. dw.de, February 25, 2015, accessed on March 11, 2015 .
  32. ^ Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy: 20 rights Groups to bestow courage award upon Saudi blogger at Geneva Summit. genevasummit.org, February 17, 2015, archived from the original on February 19, 2015 ; accessed on March 11, 2015 (English).
  33. ^ Garry Otton: Scottish Secular Society presents Raif Badawi with annual Aikenhead Award. scottishsecularsociety.com, Jan 3, 2015, archived from the original on Jan 7, 2015 ; accessed on March 11, 2015 (English).
  34. ↑ Jailed Saudi Blogger Receives One Humanity Award. pencanada.ca, October 21, 2014, accessed March 11, 2015 .
  35. ↑ Jailed Saudi Blogger Receives One Humanity Award. pencanada.ca, October 21, 2014, accessed March 11, 2015 .
  36. ↑ Current Honorary Members - Raef Badawi, Saudi Arabia. pen-deutschland.de, accessed on March 11, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Saudi blogger Badawi nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. In: orf.at. February 1, 2015, accessed February 3, 2015 .
  38. ^ Wallraff Prize for Raif Badawi , zdf.de, June 12, 2019
  39. ↑ Sascha Feuchert : Blogs by Raif Badawi as a book: Weltbürger gegen Gottesstaat. In: faz.net. April 4, 2015, Retrieved April 5, 2015 (book review).
personal data
SURNAME Badawi, Raif
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Badawi, Raif Muhammad; Badawī, Rāif Muḥammad; رائف محمد بدوي (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saudi internet activist and political prisoner
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH al-Chubar