The 2016 LI Prize for Freedom is awarded to Raif Badawi as a true champion of basic liberal values such as freedom of expression and conscience, who is paying the ultimate price by being held behind bars for having exercised those freedoms.
Raif is the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals, that made him one of the most prominent and honourable voice against oppression in Saudi Arabia, and has proven times and times again that human rights are universal. Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and brought to court on several charges, including apostasy.
In 2013 he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes. In 2014 his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes, and a fine. Because of this, the Prize was accepted on his behalf by his wife, Ensaf Haidar, president of the Raif Badawi Foundation for Freedom, which campaigns for freedom of speech and human rights awareness in the Arab world.
Main Image: Ensaf Haidar, Wikimedia Commons.
