I can not explain as to why the story of Raif Badawi has hit me so hard, but it has.
On January 9, 2015 I too read of his first 50 lashes of 1,000, to be given weekly, and I was flabbergasted.
I had read of his sentencing in the past (May 2014) but hadn't given it much thought until Friday.
As a French/Irish Canadian some may think it odd that I would feel so demoralized over the enforcement of this sentencing but I can't get the picture of him being whipped, for something all of us wouldn't hesitate to do in a millisecond and the helplessness of my meager protest by signing the Amnesty Intl Petition, or the one I signed to our Conservative Government.
http://spr.ly/...
I must reflect to another Canadian blogger who may be expressing my anger better.
“We don’t think he can survive this,” said a tearful Anne Sainte-Marie, a Montreal spokesperson for Amnistie internationale Canada francophone, one of the groups working to free Badawi.
But despite this the Harper Cons have remained totally silent.
“His wife and children have received tens of thousands of cards and letters of support from around the world, and this amazing solidarity gave us hope that we could get Raif released from prison before this punishment started,” Sainte-Marie said.
“But no. Our government has not condemned vigorously enough Saudi Arabia’s recourse to extreme corporal punishment. It is beyond outrageous that this country, one of our trading partners, is imprisoning and torturing a blogger.”
http://montrealsimon.blogspot.com/...
Let freedom reign indeed.....