Protest at Parliament Hill & Saudi Embassy - Stop the flogging of Raif Badawi

This week's protest against the flogging of Raif Badawi starts at Parliament Hill at 2pm. At 2:30pm we will march to the Saudi Arabian Embassy on Sussex Drive for a demonstration across the street from the embassy at 3pm. The event will wrap up by 3:30pm.

We will be joined by activists from Montreal and Sherbrooke. Our guest speakers will include Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi, Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, and Beatrice Vaugrante, Directrice Générale, Amnistie Internationale Canada.

Although recent floggings have been postponed, Raif still remains at risk and we must continue to speak out until he is free!

If you can't join us please sign the petition http://spr.ly/6012x3oj and invite others!

We are supporting Amnesty International Canada on this one!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1398954920403648/

http://centreforinquiry.ca/raif-badawi/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/raif-badawi-flogging-vigil-held-against-saudi-blogger-s-sentence-1.2899047

More details from Amnesty International:

Raif Badawi, a Saudi citizen, was arrested in Saudi Arabia on 17 June 2012. They charged him with insulting Islam and creating the “Saudi Arabian Liberals” website for social and political debate. The charges related to articles Raif wrote criticizing religious figures.

After his arrest, his wife and three young children sought refuge in Canada; they now live in Quebec.

Raif Badawi’s case bounced back and forth between courts until 7 May 2014. On that day, the Criminal Court pronounced a sentence of 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes and a fine of 1 million riyals (about $290,000 CDN). After he serves a decade in jail, he is also forbidden to travel for the following decade and from participating in the media.

Since March 2011 the authorities have continued a relentless campaign of repression in the name of security. The authorities have cracked down on peaceful activists calling for reforms and on demonstrators protesting against human rights violations. Those who express dissent face arrest and imprisonment whether they are critics, bloggers, activists or academics. Raif Badawi is just one of many.

Amnesty International considers Raif Badawi a prisoner of conscience and is calling for his sentence to be quashed and for him to be released immediately and unconditionally.