Raif Badawi awarded Sakharov Prize
The Saudi Arabian online activist Raif Badawi has been awarded the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of the most recognised and important prizes among those supporting human rights. Originally proposed by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and others, Raif Badawi’s nomination had got to the last-round shortlist together with the former Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and the democratic opposition in Venezuela.
Reinhard Bütikofer and Monica Frassoni, co-chairs of the European Green Party, commented the award:
“We are glad that this important prize has been given to Raif Badawi, a person who is paying the high price of a long prison term and particularly cruel treatments for promoting a healthy and free political and religious debate in Saudi Arabia. Raif Badawi must be freed immediately. We wish that he will be able to collect this prize on his own feet, in December, at the European Parliament.
“The objective of this prize is not only to give recognition to a notable advocate of freedom of expression. It should also turn the lights on upon dire and often forgotten situations of lack of human rights in countries where dissenting voices are not allowed and socio-political activists are imprisoned. Saudi Arabia is one of the worst among those countries”.
The Saudi Arabian online activist Raif Badawi has been awarded the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of the most recognised and important prizes among those supporting human rights. Originally proposed by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and others, Raif Badawi’s nomination had got to the last-round shortlist together with the former Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and the democratic opposition in Venezuela.
Reinhard Bütikofer and Monica Frassoni, co-chairs of the European Green Party, commented the award:
“We are glad that this important prize has been given to Raif Badawi, a person who is paying the high price of a long prison term and particularly cruel treatments for promoting a healthy and free political and religious debate in Saudi Arabia. Raif Badawi must be freed immediately. We wish that he will be able to collect this prize on his own feet, in December, at the European Parliament.
“The objective of this prize is not only to give recognition to a notable advocate of freedom of expression. It should also turn the lights on upon dire and often forgotten situations of lack of human rights in countries where dissenting voices are not allowed and socio-political activists are imprisoned. Saudi Arabia is one of the worst among those countries”.