Saudi Arabia: Marvin Rotrand

saudi arabia: Marvin Rotrand, who had presented the motion alongside the opposition Ensemble Montreal, said he is hopeful the vote will carry the weight necessary to get other cities to add their support and keep up pressure to get Badawi freed, according to Vancouver Courier. Rotrand said he has also received assurances the provincial and federal governments would ratchet up the pressure. Coun. We want Saudi Arabia to know we are not going away, that there will be a political cost and an ongoing cost and the movement is not going to die out but grow larger over time, Rotrand told a news conference. Badawi, who is not a Canadian citizen, was jailed in 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and fined the equivalent of 300,000 for criticizing Saudi Arabian clerics. Montreal wouldn't be the first Quebec jurisdiction to grant Badawi the distinction Sherbrooke, where his wife Ensaf Haidar and children have lived for the past few years, and the Montreal suburb of Hampstead have done the same. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.