Speech EP-president at Sakharov Prize award 2015 to Raif Badawi

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sakharov Prize Raïf Badawi is not with us today because he has been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment and 1,000 lashings for speaking freely and encouraging freedom of thought.

Last week we received alarming news that he has been moved to isolation.

Mrs Haidar, your husband is a man we believe embodies the spirit of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

On behalf of Mrs Haidar and the EP let me also welcome the Sakharov nominees Maria-Alejandra Aristeguieta Alvarez, Coordinator of the Iniciativa Por Venezuela and Olga Shorina from the Boris Nemtsov Foundation.

Thank you for being with us today, through you Ms Haider, we would like to honour Raif Badawi's courageous fight.

Madame,

Allow us to pay tribute to you as well, to your dignity, your courage and your determination to bring your husband home where three young children are awaiting the return of their father.

After death threats, you had to flee with your children to Canada where you were granted asylum and from where you are tirelessly battling for your husband’s freedom, giving him a voice whilst he is prevented from using his own.

I once again call on His Majesty King Salman to pardon Mr Badawi and release him unconditionally.

Despite great risk, as a blogger Raif Badawi bravely endeavoured to foster free thought and exercised his right to freedom of expression filling a vacuum left by the lack of a free press in his country.

Raif Badawi spoke up in defence of the right to think freely. He called for a society open to the views of others.

As he said to you from prison, when dictating over the phone the foreword to the book collecting his writings: he was engaging in enlightening his community and in breaking down the walls of ignorance. He aimed to question the untouchability of the clerics and to promote respect for freedom of expression, freedom of belief as well as to guarantee respect for women’s rights and protection of minorities and civil rights.

In 2006 Raif Badawi founded the Saudi Liberals online forum to debate the need for reforms at religious, cultural and political levels. Two years later, he was forced to shut it down. He did not give up. Rather, he came back with a new online forum, The Free Saudi Liberal Network. This had tens of thousands of members discussing religion and politics as the Arab Spring emerged in the region. The closure of Badawi’s website was a great loss to freedom of expression in his country.

He was not only censored, he was imprisoned and he received a first set of 50 lashes in front of a chanting crowd. His flogging shocked the world. People everywhere have taken to the streets and social media to condemn it. Subsequent lashes have been suspended following international condemnation and Raïf's dire state of health.

Mr Badawi has become a symbol and an inspiration for all those fighting for fundamental rights in the region.

Indeed in this fight Mr Badawi is not alone.

His lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair (36 years old), is in jail serving 15 years. Founder of the Monitor of Human Rights, he was convicted for tweets denouncing human rights abuses, amongst other charges.

In October this year, Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Khodr, co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), became the tenth founding member of this organisation to be jailed. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and a 10-year travel ban.

Just some weeks ago Ashraf Fayadh (35) a young poet and curator was sentenced to death for apostasy. His trial has been denounced by human rights groups as lacking due process and even legal assistance.

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr (21), who was under the age of 18 when he was arrested while demonstrating for equal rights in Saudi Arabia, is sentenced to death and crucifixion. We are concerned by reports that he might be executed in the coming days

As we have done for Raif Badawi, the European Parliament, in a recent resolution, has asked the Saudi authorities to quash Ali Mohammed al-Nimr's sentence.

These cases are amongst many of prisoners of conscience facing inhuman treatments, humiliation and the death sentence. We urge the Saudi authorities to put an end to this systematic crackdown on peaceful expression and to comply with the numerous international commitments they have ratified: the Convention against torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the elimination of All Forms of discrimination Against Women.

The International community and the Saudi society are entitled to be even more demanding of the Saudi authorities as the country has been elected member of the UN Human Rights Council. It has to be underlined that the deplorable human rights record does not suit match responsibility. Just this year over 150 people were executed.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Saudi society is hungry for communication: it has the highest number of active social media users in the world. The Internet, however, is heavily censored, with over 400 000 websites being blocked. Worse, those who use the internet and social media to express free thought are being heavily punished.

Nevertheless, we are always ready for dialogue. A dialogue on human rights between the EU and Saudi Arabia, supported at parliamentary level, could help overcome misunderstandings and misperceptions, foster mutual understanding and support reforms.

We note the recent positive development in Saudi Arabia. The Council of Ministers approved a law for private associations and organizations, giving them a legal framework for their activities. We hope this is a first step leading to the legal formation of independent NGOs that will be able to contribute freely to the empowerment of the civil society. We also encourage Saudi Arabia to allow international human rights NGOs to operate freely inside the country.

Even if there has been some progress in women's suffrage, equality between men and women is still far from reality. We fight for equal rights for men and women and against all forms of discrimination.

We call on Saudi Arabia to make good on its pledges to abolish the male guardianship system.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

No terror, no inhumane penal system will prevent us from fighting for human rights. No security argument, no weapons deal or oil money may deter us.

As Raif Badawi put it so eloquently: "Freedom of expression is the air a thinker breathes, just as it is the fuel that lights the fire of his ideas".

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly honoured to award the European Parliament's 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Raif Badawi and hope to receive him in person in this plenary in the near future.

Thank you