Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent conversations he has had with the government of Saudi Arabia on the punishment of Raif Badawi.

We have raised Raif Badawi’s case at the most senior levels in the Government of Saudi Arabia, most recently our Ambassador in Riyadh raised this on 9 June. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed this case in February and in March with the Saudi Minister of the Interior, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Naif, now the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. We understand the case is still under consideration in the Saudi Supreme Court and will continue to watch this case closely.