Ceremony on Award of the 2015 Sakharov Prize to Raif BADAWI&nbsp;during the EP plenary session in Strasbourg. Statements by Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Ensaf HAIDAR, wife of Raif BADAWI (Sakharov Prize laureate 2015)

Strasbourg

plenary session

ceremony

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2015 (T)

BADAWI, Raif (SA)

Award of the 2015 Sakharov Prize : extracts from the ceremony

Flags outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, It is an extraordinary honour to welcome, in representation of this year's Sakharov Prize laureate Raif Badawi, who can't be here with us, because he expressed his opinion freely and because he called for freedom of opinion, because he has been sentenced to ten years of imprisonment and to 1,000 lashes. And we have got the dramatic news that he is additionally confined in an isolation cell now, therefore he can't receive the prize personally. Therefore it is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome his determined and wonderful wife, you Mrs, Haidar, instead of your husband Raif Badawi. Have a warm welcome. (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, In the name of us all, I once again urge King Salman from here, to pardon Raif Badawi and to release him immediately and unconditionally and to let him return to his family. (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, We call on the Saudi authorities to stop the systematic opression of free thought and to meet the various international conventions ratified by it, for instance, the treaty against torture, the treaty on the rights of children, the treaty against any form of discrimination against women. The international community and Saudi society have the right to expect us to be more exigent with Saudi authorities, because it has been elected into the Council of Human Rights of the UN.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, No terror, no inhuman criminal code well prevent us from fighting for Human Rights. Nor will business with weapons, nor oil prevent us from it.  

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, <p>It is a great honour for me to hand over the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought of 2015 to Raif Badawi. And I very much hope that we can receive him personally at this plenary in the near future. Thank you very much (Applause) </p>

Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi, shows his portrait (4 shots) 

<p>SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Ensaf HAIDAR, wife of Raif BADAWI (Sakharov Prize laureate 2015), An intellectual in an Arab country has always had to carry out contorsions, has always had to beat about the bush to get his message accross because a clear, simple message is regarded as being tantamount to blasphemy, that's the ideology in certain Arab countries.</p>

SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Ensaf HAIDAR, wife of Raif BADAWI (Sakharov Prize laureate 2015), Raif isn't a criminal, he's not a rapist, he's a free thinker, a free spirit, what crime has he committed? It's simply to think differently in a country where only one kind of thought is allowed.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, Mrs. Haidar has told me that everytime they speak on the phone Mr. Badawi asks one question: 'Do our children not forget me?' I think all of us understand what that means for a father but also for a mother who speaks on the phone with her husband under these circumstances. And, she told me that she always tells him 'no, our children don't forget you, nobody forgets you'. And I think this ceremony today was a contribution to that, that the children know their father is not being forgotten and that we fight for him. I would like to tell you, Mrs. Haidar, that everyone here is impressed by your immense courage. Thanks for your speech.

Presentation video of this years Sakharov Prize laurate