human rights

Lauri Love Loses Battle; The Fight Continues

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“Don’t crucify our geeks.”—Janis Sharp, mother of Gary McKinnon

In a break with a precedent that had been established in 2012, British District Judge Nina Tempia earlier today rejected British student and activist Lauri Love‘s appeal to deny the United States of America’s request to extradite Love to the U.S., where he faces charges. He has the right to appeal the ruling, and Love and all the members of his legal team pledged today that he will appeal. He was allowed to remain free on bond.
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On Trial for Tweets, Part 3: Nabeel Rajab

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

From the day he was arrested on June 13, Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been kept in solitary detention in conditions so squalid that outside observers have verified the “toilet and shower are unclean, unhygienic, and filled with potentially disease-carrying sludge.”

The start of his trial for comments he posted online has been delayed twice: it was scheduled to start on July 12, delayed until August 2, and then on August 2, it was delayed until September 5. No reason was offered regarding this week’s delay, once again.

A request from his lawyers to release him pending the start of the trial has been rejected. Rajab remains in pretrial custody.
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Raif Badawi Matters

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Who is Raif Badawi?

What follows is an up-to-date list of the articles and columns I have written concerning Raif Badawi. Each one was first published here, in The Gad About Town website; several were subsequently linked to and quoted in other media outlets, including the Raif Badawi Foundation’s website itself. (I am not an impartial reporter, so it was an honor to see my work there.)

The photo-quote at the top is one I created in August 2015.

Who is Raif Badawi? Badawi is a writer from Saudi Arabia who started a blog entitled “Saudi Arabian Liberals,” then was arrested in 2012 and charged with “insulting Islam” and with apostasy for his writings. In Saudi Arabia and many countries, apostasy, the abandonment of a belief—in this case, belief in Islam—is as grave an offense as murder. A conviction on either charge, apostasy or murder, will lead to the same result: state-ordained capital execution. In Saudi Arabia, execution is conducted by beheading in a public square.
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