No doubt the journalists around the world are appalled at the treatment of this jailed journalist who might not survive the lashes.
In censored Saudi Arabia, Raif Badawi filled a journalistic void
By Jason Stern/CPJ Middle East and North Africa Research Associate
Ensaf Haidar, center, takes part in a demonstration calling for the release of her husband, Raif Badawi, in Ottawa January 29, 2015. (Reuters/Chris Wattie)
On the third anniversary of the arrest of liberal activist and writer Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia, his supporters all over the world are working hard to prevent what may lay ahead: the completion of a 10-year, thousand-lash sentence. To be effective in changing Badawi's future, it is important to take inspiration from his past, as he stood steadfast by his beliefs despite the adversity he faced and repeated opportunities to choose an easier path.
The Saudi Liberals online discussion forum founded by Badawi in 2006 started off modestly. Its goal, according to a media interview Badawi gave in 2007, was to create a space in Saudi Arabia to discuss the need for a liberal reform agenda on every level, from the religious and cultural to the religious and political.
That space he created for online expression took on greater importance in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most censored countries, than it would in a place where a free press could operate independently enough to facilitate such discussion. So while not a journalist himself, Badawi was in effect filling a void where journalists would normally operate and, as a result, faced the same legal pressures Saudi journalists routinely face.
Continue reading at:
https://cpj.org/blog/2015/06/in-censored-saudi-arabia-raif-badawi-filled-a-jour.
In censored Saudi Arabia, Raif Badawi filled a journalistic void
By Jason Stern/CPJ Middle East and North Africa Research Associate
Ensaf Haidar, center, takes part in a demonstration calling for the release of her husband, Raif Badawi, in Ottawa January 29, 2015. (Reuters/Chris Wattie)
On the third anniversary of the arrest of liberal activist and writer Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia, his supporters all over the world are working hard to prevent what may lay ahead: the completion of a 10-year, thousand-lash sentence. To be effective in changing Badawi's future, it is important to take inspiration from his past, as he stood steadfast by his beliefs despite the adversity he faced and repeated opportunities to choose an easier path.
The Saudi Liberals online discussion forum founded by Badawi in 2006 started off modestly. Its goal, according to a media interview Badawi gave in 2007, was to create a space in Saudi Arabia to discuss the need for a liberal reform agenda on every level, from the religious and cultural to the religious and political.
That space he created for online expression took on greater importance in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most censored countries, than it would in a place where a free press could operate independently enough to facilitate such discussion. So while not a journalist himself, Badawi was in effect filling a void where journalists would normally operate and, as a result, faced the same legal pressures Saudi journalists routinely face.
Continue reading at:
https://cpj.org/blog/2015/06/in-censored-saudi-arabia-raif-badawi-filled-a-jour.
