How outrageous is it for the the western countries to have Saudi Arabia as their major partner in the Gulf region? Hard to draw comparison, but it is totally unfair, for example to criticize Iran for its human rights standards. It is a great thing that the EU Parliament had the courage to go against the "stream" and boldly criticize Saudi Arabia. About Badawi ( from EU Parliament web site) Raif Badawi is a Saudi Arabian blogger, writer and activist and the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals, an online platform for political and religious debate. Reportedly, his website hosted material criticizing senior religious figures and Badawi suggested that the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University had become a den for terrorists. He was arrested in 2012 on a charge of insulting Islam and indicted on several charges including apostasy. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in 2013, and then resentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison plus a fine in 2014. The first 50 lashes were administered before hundreds of spectators on 9 January, 2015. Subsequent sets have been postponed in the face of international condemnation and Badawi's dire state of health. Having received death threats, his wife and three children fled to Canada. His sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2015 and he remains in jail. To watch the announcement, click here: http://audiovisual.europarl.europa.eu/Assetdetail.aspx?ref=I110894 To know more about the prize, click here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sakharovprize/en/home.html
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