Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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14. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will make contact with the Saudi Arabian Government to express our concern in relation to the public flogging of Raif Badawi whose only crime was writing a blog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2655/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The case of Raif Badawi is clearly a cause of concern. This includes both his conviction, for activities which would be widely regarded here as the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, and also the nature of the sentence, which included corporal punishment.

These concerns have been raised by the European Union on behalf of its Member States, including Ireland, with the Saudi authorities, both when he was convicted and again now that punishment has commenced. They have also been conveyed directly to the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia by a senior official in my Department.

In addition, the spokesperson of EU High Representative Mogherini issued a statement on the case of Mr Badawi on 9 January. This called on the Saudi authorities to suspend the flogging of Mr Badawi, a call which was echoed on 15 January by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

I hope that the Saudi Authorities will answer the High Commissioner’s call for Mr Badawi to be pardoned and for this harsh form of punishment to be urgently reviewed.

In the meantime, I welcome the fact that the second session of punishment for Mr Badawi has been postponed. I also welcome the reports that his case has been referred to the Supreme Court by King Abdullah. I hope this will presage a wider rethink of the case by the Saudi authorities.