Skip lunch, Los Angelinos, you have something more important to do today.
Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger, was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes; the lashes to be administered each Friday, 50 at a time.
Raif’s crime? Founding a website, Free Saudi Liberals, that “insulted Islam through electronic channels.”
Free Saudi Liberals championed free speech and human rights.
Raif received 50 lashes on January 9, 2015. The lashings were suspended for a time, but the Saudi Supreme Court upheld Raif’s sentence on June 7, 2015, and the lashings could resume any time. Raif is reportedly in poor health.
On Friday, June 26, The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles, in conjunction with Amnesty International, Muslims for Progressive Values, PEN Center USA, and the Los Angeles Press Club, will be protesting Raif’s sentence in front of the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles.
We ask the Saudi Government to FREE RAIF BADAWI and allow him to join his wife, Ensaf Haidar, and their three young children in Canada.
Please join us.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015
12:00 pm – 3:00 pmWHERE:
Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Los Angeles
2045 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025For FURTHER INFORMATION, contact
Stacy Kennedy
[email protected]
(323) 385-1812
OR
CFI|Los Angeles
(323) 666-9797http://www.centerforinquiry.net/la/events/free_raif_rally_june_26_2015/
Hey Americans, why not stop the billions in arms sales to Saudi Arabia while your at it.
Important as it is, I really wish the many other prisoners of speech “crimes” at least get a token mention in these rallies / twitter campaigns / etc.
Unfortunately, the king & his government can’t show compassion to Raif Badawi. To do so would release the floodgates of centuries of repression, & Saudi society, (or religious & royal privilege), would be threatened as never before. Assholes!