The wife of a Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for ‘insulting Islam’ has told the UN that it should kick her country off the Human Rights Council.
Ensaf Haidar, who fled to Canada with the couple’s three children in 2013, spoke to the council in Geneva about her husband, Raif Badawi.
He was convicted in 2013 for ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels’ after creating a website called Free Saudi Liberals.
Haider said she seized the ‘unique opportunity’ to address the council on behalf of NGO UN Watch because it was the ‘first time I have ever been able to speak directly to a Saudi representative.’
Ensaf Haidar, who fled to Canada with the couple’s three children in 2013, pictured speaking at the council in Geneva about her husband, Raif Badawi
Freedom fighter: Ensaf Haidar holds a picture of her husband Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison in 2015
She added that her husband was merely ‘exercising a universal human right to freedom of opinion’ and demanded his release so that Saudi Arabia’s seat on the council could be ‘deserved’.
Ms Haider also took the opportunity to ask King Salman to grant her husband clemency.
She went on:’Ironically, some of what [Badawi] was demanding is already being implemented in Saudi Arabia.
‘Indeed, Saudi Arabia spoke of these reforms when it was elected as a member of this council. And yet Raif is still in prison.
‘Five years in prison for an opinion? How just is that?’
She added: ‘My husband did not commit any crime. He simply aspired for a better future for his country.’
Addressing the Saudi ambassador, she also appealed to the council over her children.
She said: ‘Mr Ambassador, when will our three little children — 13-year-old Najwa, 12-year-old Terad, and 9-year-old Miriyam— get to see their father again?’
The Middle Eastern monarchy was elected to the Human Rights Council in 2013 after agreeing a deal with Britain.
Badawi, 33, was sentenced to ten years in prison and corporal punishment in 2013, and the first 50 of his lashes – which his wife says nearly killed him – was filmed.
She is petitioning the recently instated Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to pardon her husband, urging Saudi’s ally Britain and Prime Minister Theresa May to put pressure on the Arab state.
Ensaf Haidar tweeted the video from 2015 of her husband being flogged publicly late last month.
‘This crowd is not a beach party, it’s how moderate Muslims act when they flog someone for expressing his own opinions,’ she wrote.
Abhorrent: The family of Mr Badawi, 33, pictured in 2012 before his arrest, is urging the newly-ascended Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to pardon him
Ms Haidar has been campaigning tirelessly to secure her husband’s release, setting up the Raif Badawi Foundation to raise awareness of the case.
The first 50 of the 1,000 lashes Mr Badawi faces were administered in 2015, but following punishments has had to be postponed due to his health.
Ms Haidar says the 50 lashes nearly killed her husband, who suffers from high blood pressure.
She adds that the family have no idea how he is doing or when he is going to be flogged again.
Disgusting: Crowds can be heard cheering as Mr Badawi was publicly flogged 50 times in 2015, a punishment which nearly killed him
‘We have not heard anything from Raif or from Saudi Arabia, but we know that he will face further punishment – we are not told when,’ Ms Haidar told MailOnline.
‘We urge the newly crowned Prince Mohammed Ben Salman to pardon Raif and prevent the 950 lashings being carried out as this is putting Raif’s life at risk.
‘We also ask why the government in the UK – an ally of Saudi Arabia – remains silent, and that Prime Minister Theresa May uses her good relationship with Saudi Arabia to work for Raif’s immediate release and send him back home to Canada to his family.’
Ms Haidar hopes that the recent crowning of a new second-in line to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, may help her husband’s case.
The Crown Prince, 32 – the youngest defence minister in the world – is known for his efforts to modernise Saudi Arabia, and for promoting social media and internet connectivity.
Torture: The father-of-three still has 950 lashes and eight years left of his sentence
Since his ascent, the powers of country’s feared religious police have been curbed, and non-religious musical concerts are now allowed.
His ‘Vision 2030’ plan for the country promises to build a ‘tolerant and thriving country in which all citizens can fulfill their dreams, hopes and ambitions.
Mr Badawi founded website Free Saudi Liberals and called for free speech and was first detained in 2008, but released after questioning.
He was arrested again in June 2012, and charged with ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels’ before his conviction in 2014.
In December 2015, the European Parliament gave Badawi the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.