Ensaf Haidar is the wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up an online platform for political and religious debate.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 and accused of ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels’. He was brought to court on several charges, including apostasy. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in 2013, then re-sentenced to 1000 lashes and ten years in prison in 2014.
Soon after his imprisonment, he was declared a prisoner of conscience by international human rights NGOs, and has since become one of the world’s most famous political prisoners. He has received numerous human rights awards, including the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.
Haidar was forced to seek asylum in Canada in 2012 after receiving anonymous death threats. She has been a tireless advocate for her husband’s release, acting as President of the Raif Badawi Foundation for Freedom.
She ran unsuccessfully for office in the 2021 Canadian federal election.
