US Vice President Mike Pence urges Saudi Arabia to free Raif Badawi, a blogger jailed and publicly whipped for insulting Islam, in a rare criticism of the American ally.
, a blogger jailed and publicly whipped for insulting Islam, in a rare criticism of the US ally as he vowed to champion religious freedom worldwide.Pence offered usual US denunciations of adversaries such as China, Iran and Venezuela.whose public flogging in a Jeddah square in 2015 prompted an international uproar, as he grouped him with prisoners from Eritrea, Mauritania and Pakistan who he considered as being held for religious expression.
"So today the United States of America calls upon the governments of Eritrea, Mauritania, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to respect the rights of conscience of these men and let these men go," Pence said to applause. Canada, which granted Badawi's wife and 3 children asylum in 2013, has been particularly outspoken on his case, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling his release a top priority.
Blasphemy is an incendiary issue in Pakistan, where mere allegations of insulting Islam have sparked lynchings, although activists say many cases stem from personal disagreements.
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