Raif’s lashes could resume tomorrow – we need your urgent help

Update 12 June: Raif not flogged - for now

Raif wasn't flogged this morning - the authorities gave no explanation to the reason behind this. While it's a relief that he was not lashed, the threat of flogging continues each and every Friday in the near future.

Raif could be flogged on 19 June. It's vital we keep asking the authorities in Saudi Arabia to halt Raif's flogging for good and release him immediately.

11 June: Threat of flogging hangs over Raif

Last weekend, Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court upheld the ruling against Raif Badawi, the imprisoned blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison for advocating free speech and political debate in the country.

The Court’s decision is irreversible – he can’t appeal the decision. This means that Raif could be flogged in public 50 times tomorrow morning.

Please contact the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the UK and ask them not to flog Raif

 
Raif has been jailed for over a year now. He was flogged in a Jeddah square 50 times in January – and was due to be publicly flogged on a weekly basis thereafter, a process that was abandoned initially ‘on medical grounds’ (the wounds hadn’t ‘healed enough’ for him to be lashed again) – in the midst of international outcry over his case.

We need you to put Raif’s case in the headlines once again.

Contact the Saudi Arabian Embassy to the UK

Ahead of the flogging planned for midday tomorrow (10am UK time), we need you to contact the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

1. Call them

If you have ten minutes to spare, please call the Embassy on 02079173288

The Embassy is only open between 9am and 4pm; there is no voicemail system to leave a message outside of these hours.

If no one answers that number, please call their other line on 020 7917 3000 and either choose option 2 (media team) or hold until someone answers.

What to say

There are only a couple of simple points you need to make to the staff member answering the phone:

1.    Ask them to ensure that Saudi Arabia doesn’t flog Raif tomorrow
2.    Ask that Saudi Arabia releases him unconditionally

We appreciate this is a tall ask but if enough of us call the Embassy today and tomorrow morning, we can really get the message across that thousands of us here in the UK support Raif’s freedom and are concerned for his wellbeing.

2. Tweet them

If you have a couple of minutes, please tweet the Embassy:

Tweet now - Please halt flogging of #RaifBadawi, @SaudiEmbassyUK - & release him immediately

3. Facebook them

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted on Facebook that Raif's case is the business of Saudi Arabia and no one else. Let them know that Raif has support around the world by commenting on the post - and ask them to stop the flogging.

Feel free to write your own comment, or copy and paste the following comment:

I urge you not to flog Raif Badawi - flogging him is torture, and he deserves no punishment for his actions. He is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately.

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أعرب مصدر مسؤول بوزارة الخارجية عن الاستغراب والاستنكار الشديدين من التصريحات والبيانات الصادرة من بعض الدول والمنظمات ا...

Posted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Saudi Arabia on Thursday, 11 June 2015

4. Email them

If you phone the Embassy, they may well ask you to email your concerns about Raif. It's important that we speak out about his case and our concerns in public as much as possible, so if you're on Facebook and Twitter, please post about his case on those channels (details above). The Embassy will doubtless prefer you to continue the conversation privately over email rather than publicly on social media...

To email the Embassy, send a message to ukemb@mofa.gov.sa

Feel free to write what you wish, but you may want to use the following text as a guide.

Your Excellency HRH Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud,

I am extremely concerned for the welfare of the blogger Raif Badawi, currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

I ask you not to flog him tomorrow or at any time - flogging is torture and should never be used as a punishment.

I implore you to free Raif Badawi - he is a prisoner of conscience who has committed no crime. He must not be punished for peacefully exercising his human right to freedom of expression. Please ensure that his conviction and sentence are quashed immediately.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,