“The Conference of Presidents decided that the Sakharov Prize will go to Saudi blogger Raif Badawi,” said EP President Martin Schulz, announcing the 2015 laureate in plenary on October 29. “This man, who is an extremely good man and an exemplary man, has had imposed on him one of the most gruesome penalties that exists, which can only be described as brutal torture. I call on the King of Saudi Arabia to stop the execution of this sentence, to release Mr. Badawi, to allow him to return to his wife and to allow him to travel here for the December session to receive this prize."

Badawi: in prison for free speech

Raif Badawi is a Saudi Arabian blogger, human rights activist and author of the website Free Saudi Liberals. He is a man who risked his freedom to question some of the basic tenets of life in Saudi Arabia - especially the central role of religion. He was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a hefty fine for insulting Islamic values on his website. His blog was shut down after his arrest.

He was administered the first set of 50 lashes in public in January 2015. The remaining lashes were postponed following international protests. Earlier this week the wife of Raif Badawi, Ensaf Haidar, who is currently living in Canada with their three children, announced that the Saudi authorities have given the green light for the flogging to resume.

In February of this year, MEPs adopted a resolution strongly condemning the flogging of Badawi as "a cruel and shocking act” and calling on Saudi Arabian authorities "to release him immediately and unconditionally, as he is considered a prisoner of conscience, detained and sentenced solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression."

The Sakharov Prize

The European Parliament supports human rights through the annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, established in 1988. The prize is awarded to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights across the globe, drawing attention to human rights violations as well as supporting the laureates and their cause.