Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was released on Friday after ten years in prison for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s religious authorities.
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This was confirmed in the morning by his spouse and former Bloc candidate in Sherbrooke, Ensaf Haidar, on his Twitter account.
However, the blogger’s release from prison does not guarantee his return to Canada, since he is subject to a 10-year ban on leaving the country.
“He will also be banned from using social media and he has been fined the equivalent of more than 300,000 Canadian dollars,” Colette Lelièvre, head of campaigns and actions at Amnesty International Canada, recently lamented.
Mme Haidar had also challenged the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, in a letter sent last February to demand the end of this ban.
“We are happy with this extraordinary development and offer our full collaboration to Raïf Badawi and Ensaf Haidar for the rest of things,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet wrote on social media on Friday.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com