Your Majesty,
We are writing as Members of the European Parliament, as we are very worried about the situation of Saudi citizen Raif Badawi. On Sunday 7 June, the Supreme Court in Riyadh upheld the cruel sentence of 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes, which almost certainly constitutes a de facto death sentence. After receiving the first 50 lashes when his sentence was passed in January, prison doctors deemed Raif Badawi too injured to be flogged again until his appeal was heard.
Mr Badawi’s only crime has been to peacefully exercise his right to freedom of speech. We would like to remind you that Mr Badawi’s wife and children currently reside in Canada and should be reunited with their husband and father. The government of Canada would be willing to grant residency to Mr Badawi, as it has done for his family.
We appeal to Your Majesty to show compassion for Raif Badawi. Now that the final sentence has been cast by the Supreme Court, an official pardon is the only way to save him. Furthermore, we appeal to Your Majesty to show compassion for Mr Badawi’s lawyer, Waleed Abu Alkhair, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, and for all prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.
We appreciate your kind attention for our concerns.
Sincerely,
Schaake, Marietje (ALDE) Ali, Nedzhmi (ALDE) Anderson, Martina (GUE/NGL) Arena, Maria (S&D) Auken, Margrete (Greens) Auštrevičius, Petras (ALDE) Baalen, Hans van (ALDE) Backer, Philippe de (ALDE) Bearder, Catherine (ALDE) Becerra, Beatriz (ALDE) Benifei, Brando (S&D) Bilbao Barandica, Izaskun (ALDE) Boni, Michal (EPP) Bossuyt, Anneleen van (ECR) Boylan, Lynn (GUE/NGL) Carthy, Matt (GUE/NGL) Caputo, Nicola (S&D) Childers, Nessa (S&D) Chrysogonos, Kostas (GUE/NGL) Corrao, Ignazio (EFDD) Dalen, Peter van (ECR) Dance, Seb (S&D) Delli, Karima (Greens) De Masi, Fabio (GUE/NGL) Demesmaeker, Mark (ECR) Deprez, Gérard (ALDE) Dodds, Anneliese (S&D) Durand, Pascal (Greens) Eck, Stefan (GUE/NGL) Ertug, Ismail (S&D) Fajon, Tanja (S&D) Faria, Jose Inacio (ALDE) Federley, Fredrick (ALDE) García Pérez, Iratxe (S&D) Gerbrandy, Gerben-Jan (ALDE) Geringer de Oedenberg, Lidia (S&D) Giegold, Sven (Greens) Gill, Neena (S&D) Gomes, Ana (S&D) Guteland, Jytte (S&D) Harkin, Marian (ALDE) Hautala, Heidi (Greens) Hedh, Anna (S&D) Henkel, Hans-Olaf (ECR) Heubeuch, Maria (Greens) In ‚t Veld, Sophie (ALDE) Jávor, Benedek (Greens) Ježek, Petre (ALDE) Joly, Eva (Greens) Karas, Othmar (EPP) Kelam, Tunne (EPP) Kirton-Darling, Jude (S&D) Kölmel, Bernd (ECR) Konečná, Kateřina (GUE/NGL) Köster, Dietmar (S&D) Kuneva, Kostadinka (GUE/NGL) Kyuchyuk, Ilhan (ALDE) Lange, Esther de (EPP) Lambert, Jean (Greens) Le Hyaric, Patrick (GUE/NGL) Lenaers, Jeroen (EPP) Lochbihler, Barbara (Greens) Loones, Sander (ECR) López Bermejo, Paloma (Gue/NGL) Lösing, Sabine (GUE/NGL) Ludvigsson, Olle (S&D) Lunacek, Ulrike (Greens) Martin, David (S&D) Maura Barandiarán, Fernando (ALDE) Meissner, Gesine (ALDE) Michel, Louis (ALDE) Miltenburg, Matthijs van (ALDE) Mlinar, Angelika (ALDE) Nart, Javier (ALDE) Nieuwenhuizen, Cora van (ALDE) Nilsson, Jens (S&D) Ní Ríada, Liadh (GUE/NGL) Paet, Urmas (ALDE) Pagazaurtundúa, Maite (ALDE) Petersen, Morten Helveg (ALDE) Picula, Tonino (S&D) Poche, Miroslav (S&D) Post, Soraya (S&D) Reimon, Michel (Greens) Ries, Frédérique (ALDE) Rivasi, Michele (Greens) Rochefort, Robert (ALDE) Rolin, Claude (EPP) Sargentini, Judith (Greens) Schlein, Elly (S&D) Scott Cato, Molly (Greens) Stevens, Helga (ECR) Sebastià, Jordi (Greens) Serrão Santos, Ricardo (S&D) Smith, Alyn (Greens) Spinelli, Barbara (GUE/NGL) Stihler, Catherine (S&D) Tannock, Charles (ECR) Tarabella, Marc (S&D) Telička, Pavel (ALDE) Terricabras, Josep-Maria (Greens) Theurer, Michael (ALDE) Torvalds, Nils (ALDE) Tremosa i Balcells, Ramon (ALDE) Trüpel, Helga (Greens) Ulvskog, Marita (S&D) Urtasun, Ernest (Greens) Vajgl, Ivo (ALDE) Vana, Monika (Greens) Vautmans, Hilde (ALDE) Vergiat, Marie-Christine (GUE/NGL) Ward, Julie (S&D) Weber, Renate (ALDE) Weidenholzer, Josef (S&D) Wikström, Cecilia (ALDE) Zver, Milan (EPP)