Oslo, Jordan, Sesame Street

Via the Humanistisk Ungdom page (Norway’s Humanist Youth) – a sizable collection of people on a cold snowy day protest in front of the Saudi embassy in Oslo.

A Google translatation with some adaptations –

For the fifth time we stand together with Amnesty International outside the Saudi embassy and demonstrate for Raif Badawi .

He is sentenced to prison and 1,000 lashes – for a blog post.

This time, we were suddenly chased 10 meters away from the embassy, behind a hedge, entirely without justification or explanation of who gave the order.

We didn’t give up though, and continued to shout: #Free Raif Badawi! #Stop the flogging!

Go there to see a 9 second video of them doing it, with a pan from them to the embassy.

In Jordan – [Read more…]

We’ve got leverage

The New Statesman said something interesting in a piece on January 15th on why protesting the flogging of Raif matters.

Under recent Saudi law, anything from “calling for atheist thought” to “inciting protests” or organizing petitions is now punishable as an act of terrorism.

Despite the crackdown at home, however, Saudi Arabia is angling to present itself as a supporter of free expression abroad.

Oh is it. Is it really. [Read more…]

Another Friday

For the fourth week, the Saudis have refrained from hitting Raif Badawi with a stick 50 times.

Saudi Arabia has again delayed a planned flogging of a blogger, according to a report from Amnesty International.

The Twitter account of the organization’s press office said Raif Badawi was spared a flogging today for reasons not yet known.

Not being able to get away with it without a lot of yelling and shouting, would be one big reason. The embassies would prefer a quiet life. [Read more…]

Back to the Court of Appeal in Jeddah

Amnesty reports a new fact relating to Raif Badawi –

Raif Badawi was not publicly flogged on Friday 30 January for unclear reasons. Unlike in previous weeks he was not called from his cell and examined by the prison doctor. It is unclear why the routine medical check-up did not take place and or why the flogging was postponed.

Amnesty International also learned that Raif Badawi’s case was referred on 3 February from the Supreme Court back to the Court of Appeal in Jeddah. No further information about the details of this transfer were made available. The Supreme Court could have upheld the conviction and sentence, or it could have called for a retrial by overturning the sentence and conviction or by making observations and recommendations. The Saudi Arabian authorities have not yet made an official statement on the case despite the international outcry.

However as long as the sentence to flogging and prison stands, Raif Badawi remains at risk of flogging and will serve his 10-year prison sentence.

The Supreme Court has sent the case back to the Court of Appeal in Jeddah. It’s impossible to know what that could mean, but…to an outsider it looks like people in Saud-family Arabia passing a hot potato around, trying to figure out how to get out of a mess with the least possible embarrassment to themselves.

Suad al-Shammary was released today

Wo.

The Beeb reports:

The new Saudi King Salman has issued a decree pardoning what are described as “public right” prisoners, which could include Mr Badawi.

Suad al-Shammary, a rights activist and lawyer who worked with Mr Badawi on his blog, was released on Friday.

She had been held for three months without charge over comments she made on Twitter, which her opponents portrayed as anti-Islamic.

Wo. If she can, Raif can.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar – who lives in Canada – told the BBC she was buoyed by Friday’s developments.

“I ask the world to remain by my side until Raif is released.”

Damn right.

She said she now hated Fridays – the day of lashings. “I turn into a mess, until I know his [Raif’s] fate.”

I bet Thursdays aren’t so hot either. Saturday through Wednesday? Well they suck too.

Until Raif is released.

Urge the ambassador

Another action we can take, via Amnesty – send an email to Simon Collis, the new UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, asking him to

  • Prioritise Raif’s case in all meetings with the Saudi Arabian authorities
  • Meet with the Minister responsible in the Saudi Arabian government and ask permission to visit Raif in prison.

That will be a pain in the neck for the new ambassador, so he will want the Saudis to free Raif and let him leave the country immediately.

Uh oh, there’s no exit door in this corner

A thought has occurred to me about Saud-family Arabia and the torture of Raif Badawi.

They’re boxing themselves in. By repeatedly postponing the torture, they’re admitting that they can’t do it without causing permanent damage. They have no qualms about doing that, of course, but they know they’re under a spotlight, and it must be getting quite warm there.

Hello Era of Social Media.

They’re stuck. This isn’t going away, and in fact it’s doing the opposite – it’s both growing and intensifying. They clearly don’t feel happy about just going ahead and flogging Raif again anyway…but nor do they feel happy about letting the horrible infidels and apostates win.

They should have thought of that sooner.