UK government will raise Raif Badawi case during Saudi minister's visit
|
Version 0 of 1. The UK government will raise the plight of Raif Badawi, the blogger sentenced to public flogging in Saudi Arabia, during a visit by the country’s interior minister, Downing Street has said. Deputy crown prince Muhammad bin Nayef will have dinner with the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, on Tuesday night at the start of the three-day visit. He is scheduled for talks with the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, on Wednesday and then the prime minister and the home secretary, Theresa May, on Thursday. The visit comes as Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is in the spotlight over the punishment of Badawi, who was jailed for 10 years and is being flogged 50 times a week over several months for insulting Islam. The European parliament called the sentence a “cruel and shocking act”. Badawi had encouraging his countrymen to share opinions about the role of religion in the country on his Free Saudi Liberals website. Cameron, who recently travelled to Saudi for the funeral of King Abdullah, has defended Britain’s close ties with the kingdom despite human rights concerns. Saudi Arabia supplied a piece of counter-terrorism intelligence that saved hundreds of lives in Britain, he said recently, and that his first duty was to protect the public, even if it meant doing business with regimes he “didn’t always agree with”. Asked if human rights would be raised during the talks, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We have consistently raised concerns that we have, and will continue to do so at every level, because no issues are off the table. “We have been very clear about those views, including in the ongoing case that many people have in mind, and we will continue to raise that.” Amnesty International UK’s head of policy and government affairs, Allan Hogarth, said: “UK officials have been far too reticent for far too long over Saudi Arabia’s horrendous human rights record. They’ve effectively been wearing a muzzle when it comes to Saudi human rights abuses. “With the deputy crown prince’s visit, UK officials should try to exert some real pressure on him over Saudi Arabia’s disgraceful human rights record. “Under the new ruler King Salman, public executions have continued apace, while the free speech activist Raif Badawi remains in jail and is still at risk of being flogged. “During this trip Prince Nayef should be left in no doubt that the UK wants to see Raif Badawi freed and wider human rights reforms initiated in Saudi Arabia at the earliest possible moment.” |