RIYADH (AFP/ MEMO) –
Saudi Arabia confirmed on Saturday a 10-year travel ban for blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, a day after he was released from prison.
“The sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final,” an interior ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
“Therefore, he cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a [royal] pardon is issued,” the official said.
Badawi had been jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for criticizing the kingdom’s extremist Wahhabi ideology.
“Raif called me. He is free,” human rights activist Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and had been advocating for his release, told AFP news agency on Friday.
“I jumped when I found out. I couldn’t believe it. I can’t wait to see my dad, I’m so excited,” one of his daughters, Nawja Badawi, 18, said.
Badawi’s son Terad Raif Badawi tweeted: “After 10 years my father is free!”
The winner of the Reporters Without Borders prize for press freedom, who is now 38 years old, was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
He was detained over material on an internet forum that he created to encourage public debate, criticizing the influential Saudi clerics who preach Wahhabism. Criticism of Wahhabi clerics is viewed as a red line as they are instrumental in supporting Riyadh’s policies.
He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, which were to be carried out in 20 sessions in front of a mosque, ten years in jail, $266,000 in cash fine, 10-year ban on overseas travel, and 10-year ban from participating in visual, electronic and written media.
Haidar – who fled to Canada after Badawi’s arrest and has since become a Canadian citizen – had held a public vigil for him every Friday for almost seven years.
International human rights organizations have lashed out at Saudi Arabia for failing to address the rights situation in the kingdom. They say Saudi Arabia has persistently implemented repressive policies that stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Ever since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.
State media reported on Saturday that the Saudi regime executed at least 81 people in one day, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian, allegedly convicted of various crimes, including kidnapping and rape.
The men included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty of attempting to assassinate security officers and targeting police stations and convoys, Saudi Press Agency said, citing a statement from the interior ministry.
SPA did not confirm when the executions took place.