Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the punishment of Raif Badawi.

We are extremely concerned that Raif Badawi’s sentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court in Saudi Arabia. However we understand that this case is under active consideration in the Saudi Supreme Court and we will continue to watch it closely. We have raised this case at the most senior levels bilaterally with the Saudi Arabian government and our officials in Riyadh have discussed it frequently with European, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and US Embassies in Riyadh, including earlier last week.