After ten years of waiting, she could finally see her husband again. He might have grown a little grayer, but Ensaf Haidar (46) thought he was just as handsome as he used to be, and she would have loved to have jumped into his arms right away.
But that is not possible. Raif Badawi, one of Saudi Arabia’s most well-known dissidents, was released from prison in March but will not be allowed to leave the country for the next ten years. Haidar lives with the children in Canada, where she was granted asylum after fleeing the kingdom in a hurry. ‘It’s double,’ says Haidar with a sigh. “I was incredibly happy, but at the same time it was so sad. There he was, my dear Raif, but I could only touch a screen.’
hypocritical
She is therefore looking critically at Joe Biden’s Friday visit to Saudi Arabia, where he will shake hands with Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s powerful crown prince. Activists call it hypocritical that Biden, who labeled Bin Salman an “outcast” after the murder of journalist Kamal Khashoggi, is going to talk to him again now that the price of oil is going through the roof because of the war in Ukraine. They are under no illusions: Biden may be just as dutiful about the human rights situation, but no one expects him to slam his fist on the table. “But I’m glad we’re talking,” Haidar says, crossing her fingers. “Maybe also about Raif. And who knows… They are moments when a gesture is sometimes made.’
Raif Badawi (38), son of a Christian Lebanese mother and a Saudi father, dreamed of a more tolerant, liberal Saudi Arabia and spoke out against oppression in the name of faith. In his early twenties, he stuck his neck out and in 2006 started the online forum Free Saudi Liberals, a place where citizens could discuss liberalism and religion. It was an unusual move in the conservative and autocratic kingdom, but for the first few years, the authorities left Badawi alone.
However, in 2012, he was arrested for ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels’, later being charged with apostasy. If the judge had agreed, Badawi would have been sentenced to death. He was eventually sentenced to ten years in prison, a fine of 194,000 euros and a thousand strokes of the cane. For twenty weeks, he would receive fifty blows on Friday next to the great mosque of Jeddah in front of all believers.
Black Cross
All these years, Haidar has kept the fire of indignation burning. She travels all over the world to ask for support for her beloved husband. For that reason she is also in the Netherlands this week. Haidar met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is today on the stage of the Zwarte Cross festival. A remarkable place to take action for a Saudi dissident, but Haidar is looking forward to it. “I like to talk about my husband,” she says with a light in her eyes. Moreover, the organizers have always supported her. An Australian stuntman drew attention to Badawi in 2014 with a special jump with his motorcycle (for the enthusiast: a distance backflip) and the director personally demonstrated in front of the embassy of Saudi Arabia.
Because yes, says Haidar, action is still needed. “Raif is free now, but at the same time he is not. And I don’t quite understand why. Many of the things he advocated for have now been implemented in Saudi Arabia. Women enjoy more freedom, there are cinemas and the power of the religious police has been curtailed. If Raif had written his blogs during this time, no one would have had a problem with that. Then why the travel ban?’
Just imagine, says the woman. Their youngest daughter was not yet 4 years old when Badawi was arrested, this week she turned 15. ‘That’s daddy’, you say to the children when they can video call him after all these years. We were all silent, mostly looking at each other. Speechless. We have nothing more to offer them than that screen for the next ten years.’