Wir fordern die Aufhebung der Reisebeschränkung für Raif Badawi

Nachdem der Saudi Arabische Blogger Raif Badawi seine 10-jährige Gefängnisstrafe verbüßt hat, sieht er sich jetzt mit einem zehnjährigen Reisebann konfrontiert. Wir haben daher an den Kronprinzen und Innenminister von Saudi Arabien geschrieben und darum gebeten, Badawi, dessen Familie inzwischen in Kanada lebt, ausreisen zu lassen. Hier ist der Wortlaut des Briefes:

Leniency for Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi

Your Royal Highness,
I am a German poet and board member of the PEN Center of German-Speaking Writers Abroad (formerly German Exile PEN), and I already wrote in 2017 and 2020 asking for the release of Raif Badawi. In the meantime, he is no longer imprisoned because he has served his 10-year sentence.
I have learned that he was subsequently banned from traveling for ten years.

On behalf of the PEN Center of German-speaking Writers Abroad, I ask for your leniency and that he be allowed to leave the country. You can imagine that he longs to see and hug his wife, who lives abroad, for the first time in ten years, and to see his now older children.

You run a prosperous country. I am sure it stands behind human rights as laid out by the United Nations for all people, such as the right to freedom of expression and association. Your Royal Highness, isn’t spending ten years in prison enough punishment? Wouldn’t it be consistent with the human right to travel and a sign of humanity to lift the ban?

We are pleading with you: Please let Raif Badawi travel so he can finally see his family. We would be very grateful if you could honor our request. Please end our colleague’s misery now.

With kind regards
Gino Leineweber