“We are not reunited like a normal family. »
On the phone, Ensaf Haidar calmly talks about her husband, whom she has not seen for more than ten years. This weekend is like no other. Exactly a year ago, Raif Badawi was released from prison in Saudi Arabia, after having spent more than ten years there.
Hope was then at its peak, and several human rights activists were already foreseeing Badawi’s arrival in Canada, where he could have joined his wife and their three children, established in Sherbrooke. But that was without taking into account the intransigence of the Saudi regime, which did not want to derogate from the second part of the sentence imposed on Raif Badawi, namely the ban on leaving the territory for a decade following his release.
“I am happy that he has the right to move, that he is free, rejoices Mme Haidar. Even if for us, it is 50% free, not 100%. The one who made himself known thanks to his militant blog for human rights and against the Saudi Islamic regime no longer has the right to speak to journalists or to express himself on social media.
Since his release from prison, however, he has been able to communicate much more easily with his family. “The children speak to him by video or by telephone, we speak to each other every day and when we want”, explains Mme Haidar.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of Mr. Badawi’s release from prison, a gathering of about 30 people was organized in front of Sherbrooke City Hall on Saturday. A mobilization to mark the work still to be done, but also to underline the hope that has been strengthened over the past year. “I feel free,” proclaims Ensaf Haidar. “While ten years ago [lorsque Badawi est entré en prison]we were sad, we didn’t have a lot of information about him, we didn’t speak to him regularly… ”
Hope despite everything
If Mme Haidar remains the best-known voice regarding her husband’s story, she can count on the support of Amnesty International, an organization involved in the case for several years.
“We follow up with Mr. Badawi as with other prisoners who have been released, but who are banned from leaving the country,” explains the director general of Amnesty International Canada Francophone, France-Isabelle Langlois.
“And we continue to fight for all the prisoners of conscience who are still in prison, like Raïf Badawi’s lawyer,” she continues. Waleed Sami Abu al-Khair, a human rights activist, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2014. His wife, Samar Badawi, who is Raif’s sister and also an activist, was released in 2021, after having also spent several years behind bars.
For France-Isabelle Langlois, the strategy to promote Raïf’s arrival in Canada is set to evolve. “When he came out of prison last year, there was a lot of hope that he could come here, but Raïf did not want there to be too open a mobilization”, fearing that it would harm his coming. in Canada, explains Mr.me Langlois. “He relied on diplomacy. Ramadan was beginning, and there are often royal graces during Ramadan. »
However, he did not benefit from it. “A year later, the situation is different. We hope that by making more noise, it will lead to something, ”says Mme Langlois.
Noise, that’s what Ensaf Haidar hopes to generate. Around the world, if necessary. For several months, she has been involved in the promotion of the documentary While waiting for Raif, which follows the struggle she has been leading for years to bring her husband back to her. “We presented it in Germany and, next month, we will talk about it in the Austrian Parliament, in Vienna. In Quebec, it is available on Tou.tv in its abbreviated version.
“The documentary is like a reminder, concludes Mme Haidar. We have not finished our fight, we are still far away. We’re not together like a normal family. But I still have hope. »