Emailed to ukemb@mofa.gov.sa

Your Excellency

Raif Badawi

I am writing to express my dismay at the protracted torture and imprisonment of Raif Badawi by the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At a time when the world has been appalled by the massacres in Paris the world sees that violence echoed by the Saudi state in its treatment of Raif Badawi.

That Raif Badawi is being tortured and imprisoned by the Saudi state in such a brutal and medieval fashion for attempting to exercise free speech shocks the world. Further it undermines the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s claims as a bulwark against “Islamic State”, as the world begins to see little distinction between the violence of the two.

The immediate ending of Raif Badawi’s flogging and his release back to his family will begin to repair some of the damage that has been done to the international reputation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I respectfully request that you convey to your government this request, in the name of human rights, for the ending of the torture of Raif Badawi and his release.

Yours faithfully

Dr Aidan McQuade