You may remember how the world watched in horror when Raif Badawi received his first 50 lashes in Saudi Arabia in January 2015.

Raif is still trapped in a Saudi Arabian prison. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for writing on a website that promoted political debate in Saudi Arabia. Doctors say that such severe and repeated lashing could KILL him.

Raif’s wife Ensaf Haidar, and their three children, managed to escape the dangers they faced in Saudi Arabia. Canada granted them political asylum and they now live in safety in Quebec.

Today – will you do something truly special for Raif and his family?

You can help bring Raif’s wife Ensaf Haidar, and their three children, to the Vancouver Writers Fest. You will help spread awareness of the campaign to free Raif.

With your help, Ensaf can speak about her husband’s plight, and her campaign to save him, in front of a large audience in Vancouver.

She will publicly read her husband’s blog posts in Vancouver for the very first time. The blogs that are the reason he is in prison.

Raif Badawi is one man, but he represents the thousands of journalists and writers who are imprisoned and tortured around the world for speaking up.

Raif’s blogs have recently been published in a book called 1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think by Greystone Books. We are bringing Ensaf to the Vancouver Writers Fest to publicly launch 1000 Lashes and we want as many people to know about it as possible. This will help garner national and international attention to his case.

“He wanted his country to be more liberal and tolerant of other religions,” Ensaf says. “The blog was only a space for social debates.”-The Guardian, January 21, 2015

We have started this important campaign for a number of reasons:

1. To bring Ensaf and her children to the Vancouver Writers Fest to publicly launch Raif Badawi’s book, 1000 Lashes: Because I Say What I Think
2. To raise awareness of the fight for Raif’s freedom in Vancouver and across Canada.
3. And most importantly, to help rescue Raif, and reunite him with his wife Ensaf and their children.

Our target for this campaign is $20,000. These funds will be used to fly Ensaf and her three children to Vancouver. (Ensaf does not have any family in Canada to look after her children, and given the suffering this family is enduring, it’s very important for her to keep them with her). Any extra money we raise will be donated to Amnesty International to support their work on behalf of Raif Badawi and other persecuted writers and journalists.

Ensaf and her three children desperately miss Raif. They want him free. They want him safe in his new home, Canada.

Please give today to help bring Ensaf and her children to Vancouver.

“I’m very proud of my husband, and I’m convinced that he’s going to keep writing. He has principles, and he’s going to go until the end. He will not change.”

-Macleans.ca, January 23, 2015

Raif Badawi is a writer who has been brutally punished for simply writing.

Please give today and help bring Ensaf to the Vancouver Writers Fest. With support from people like you, Raif’s voice will be heard once again.

Thank you.

Hal Wake

Artistic Director,Vancouver Writers Fest

How your donation can help:

• $25- A gift of just $25 will provide a breakfast or lunch for Ensaf and her three children.
• $55-This will cover expenses for Ensaf for one day, including travel, breakfast and lunch.
• $100-With a gift of $100, you can cover Ensaf and her children’s travel to and from the airport in Quebec.
• $500- With a gift of $500 today, you can provide hotel accommodation and dinner for two days for the whole family.
• $1,200-A gift of $1,200 will provide the return airfare for Ensaf to attend the Vancouver Writers Fest.
• $4,800- A gift of $4,800 will pay for the return airfare for Ensaf and her children from Quebec to Vancouver and back.