Parliament calls for the immediate release of an Irish citizen,Ibrahim Halawa, detained in Egypt, the release of all political prisoners inMaldives, and the withdrawal of the anti-sodomy law in Malaysia, in threeresolutions passed on Thursday.
On Monday evening, 14 December, in Strasbourg, members of DROI, AFET and DEVE held an exchange of views with Ensaf Haidar together with Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special Representative for Human Rights.
During her intervention, DROI Chair, Elena Valenciano, expressed that "Raif's only crime was simply to express his thoughts. His only weapon: his words. And they replied to his words with lashes, prison, harassment and isolation."
Members conveyed their support for Raif Badawi and their hope that he will be pardoned and charges against him will be dropped.They also voiced their concern about the dire situation of human rights in Saudi Arabia and insisted on the need to align the EU foreign and commercial policy to its human rights guiding principles. They also highlighted the high number of human rights defenders in Saudi jails, including the lawyer of Raif Badawi, and that over 150 persons have been executed since the beginning of the year, including juveniles.
The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights will take place on Monday 25 January 2016 at 15h00 in meeting room ASP A5E-2.