Raif Badawi, who founded an online forum for political and social debate, called âSaudi Arabian Liberalsâ, was arrested on 17 June 2012 and has been detained since then in a prison in Briman, in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah. He was charged with violating Saudi Arabiaâs information technology law and insulting Islamic religious figures by creating and managing an online forum.
The charges against Raif Badawi related to a number of articles he had written, including one about Valentineâs Day in which he was accused of ridiculing Saudi Arabiaâs Commission on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, also known as the religious police. The charges against him also mention his failure to remove articles by other people on his website, including one that suggested that Al-Imam Mohamed ibn Saud University had become âa den for terroristsâ.
Amnesty International's annual 'letter writing marathon' mobilizes people around the world to take part in mass activism, providing hope and transforming the lives of others around the world.
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE WRITE FOR RIGHTS ARTWORK:
- All of the image files and large format design files for the cases are available for download from Box.com:
https://amnesty.box.com/s/hg0k6eq2nmst8gmflfe6
- Full details of each case is available via the AI Global Intranet:
https://intranet.amnesty.org/wiki/display/IAR/2014/09/08/Write+for+Rights+2014+cases+selected!
This artwork was produced by artist Juan Osborne. Osborne searches for the most popular words associated with his subjects, then uses his netbook and a custom software to piece them together and recreate the image.
