Close X
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
ADVT 
National

Jailed Saudi Blogger's Children Appeal To Justin Trudeau In Video Message

IANS, 03 Jun, 2017 01:22 AM

    MONTREAL — Raif Badawi's children are appealing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to personally call Saudi Arabian authorities to ask for their father to be freed as the fifth anniversary of his imprisonment looms.

     

    "Now it's enough, we've waited too long, we need to see our father," one of the blogger's three children says in a French-language video message posted on Amnesty International's website Friday.

     

    "Mr. Trudeau, pick up the phone, call the king of Saudi Arabia, so our father comes back," the message continues.

     

    The Canadian chapter of the human-rights organization posted the video on its French-language website ahead of the anniversary of the Saudi blogger's arrest.

     

    Badawi is not a Canadian citizen but his wife and children live in Sherbrooke, Que.

     

    He was arrested in June 17, 2012 and later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for his criticism of Saudi clerics.

     

    He received 50 lashes in January 2015 during a public flogging but has not received any since then.

     

    His imprisonment has drawn widespread international condemnation and Amnesty International has accused Trudeau of not doing enough to free him.

     

     

    A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said the government has raised Badawi's case "at the highest levels" and repeatedly called for clemency.

     

    "We will continue to raise our concerns over his situation both in Riyadh and Ottawa, as the International Development Minister did last month with the Saudi Ambassador to Canada," Jocelyn Sweet said in an email.

     

    Joel Lightbound, a Liberal MP from Quebec City, also offered reassurance that freeing Badawi was a government objective and "something on which work is being done at this moment," including at the highest levels.

     

    While members of the government have raised the case with Saudi authorities, Trudeau has appeared reluctant to intervene personally.

     

    He told The Canadian Press in late 2015 that calling Saudi Arabia on Badawi's behalf was not in his "immediate plans" and it's unclear whether his position has changed since then.

     

    In the video, Badawi's two daughters and son take turns speaking as photos of Trudeau posing with the family play in the background.

     

    The children describe a previous meeting with Trudeau and their disappointment at his perceived inaction.

     

    "We're very happy to meet you in person," the message reads. "You raised our level of hope, we hoped he would come back sooner.

     

    "At the beginning the meeting, we were very happy. At the end, we were disappointed."

     

    Amnesty International has organized a demonstration in Montreal on June 16 to mark the anniversary of Badawi's imprisonment.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    First Comes Fire, Then Comes Marriage: Busy Year For Fort McMurray Couple

    First Comes Fire, Then Comes Marriage: Busy Year For Fort McMurray Couple
    Four days before her May 7 wedding, the bride-to-be was planning to pick up her dress from the seamstress after work.

    First Comes Fire, Then Comes Marriage: Busy Year For Fort McMurray Couple

    Quebec Police Watchdog Investigating After Man Dies In Police Custody

    LONGUEUIL, Que. — Quebec's police watchdog agency is looking into the death of a 24-year-old man who died in police custody in northern Quebec on Friday night.

    Quebec Police Watchdog Investigating After Man Dies In Police Custody

    Harjit Sajjan Issues Facebook Apology For Falsely Claiming He Was Architect Of Operation Medusa

    Harjit Sajjan Issues Facebook Apology For Falsely Claiming He Was Architect Of Operation Medusa
    The Federal Defence Minister Said In A Facebook Post That He Had Made A Mistake By Describing Himself As The Architect Of Operation Medusa, In Which 12 Canadian Soldiers Died.

    Harjit Sajjan Issues Facebook Apology For Falsely Claiming He Was Architect Of Operation Medusa

    Woman, 2 Children Dead After Crash On Lougheed Highway In Coquitlam: RCMP

    Woman, 2 Children Dead After Crash On Lougheed Highway In Coquitlam: RCMP
    Investigators say the accident happened early Friday night on the Lougheed Highway just east of Vancouver.

    Woman, 2 Children Dead After Crash On Lougheed Highway In Coquitlam: RCMP

    B.C. Breaks Record For Daily Overdose Ambulance Calls, 29% Increase Last Week, With Eight Deaths

    B.C. Breaks Record For Daily Overdose Ambulance Calls, 29% Increase Last Week, With Eight Deaths
    VANCOUVER — New numbers from health officials and first responders in British Columbia confirm a provincewide drug overdose crisis shows no sign of abating.

    B.C. Breaks Record For Daily Overdose Ambulance Calls, 29% Increase Last Week, With Eight Deaths

    B.C. Drunk Driver Samuel Alec Gets Over Eight Years For Killing Three People Near Pemberton

    B.C. Drunk Driver Samuel Alec Gets Over Eight Years For Killing Three People Near Pemberton
    VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man who killed three people while driving drunk along a winding mountain highway has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.

    B.C. Drunk Driver Samuel Alec Gets Over Eight Years For Killing Three People Near Pemberton