On Friday, the Saudi authorities released blogger and human rights defender Raif Badawi, after he spent 10 years in prison for expressing his opinions and creating an online forum for public debate. His release constitutes an important and welcome, yet overdue development.
The European Union is unequivocally committed to freedom of expression and freedom of opinion, enshrined in the EU‘s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The European Parliament awarded Mr Badawi the Sakharov Prize in 2015.
The European Union will continue to work on strengthening its engagement on human rights with Saudi Arabia.