by Heather Hastie | Dec 8, 2015 | Democracy, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Middle East
I’ve written about the appalling justice system in Saudi Arabia before in The Injustice of Sharia in Saudi Arabia and also specifically about the case of Raif Badawi, a blogger serving a sentence of ten years and 1,000 lashes simply for disagreeing with the type...
by Heather Hastie | Nov 1, 2015 | Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Middle East, Winners and Worries
It was announced on Thursday that Raif Badawi won the European Union’s Sakharov human rights prize. The Guardian reports : Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger and activist sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam, has won the EU’s Sakharov...
by Heather Hastie | Sep 27, 2015 | Democracy, Human Rights, Middle East, Winners and Worries, Women
For my Worry of the Week, I’d like to draw your attention to a film that was brought to my attention by Dermot C., a commenter on the Why Evolution is True website. It’s called Women on the Front Line and was produced last year by Sheema Kalbasi, directed...
by Heather Hastie | Aug 16, 2015 | Democracy, Human Rights, Science & Nature, USA, Winners and Worries
There was an embarrassment of riches for both the Saint and Sinner this week. For the Saint, I just need to go into full, one-eyed Kiwi mode. The New Zealand netball team, the Silver Ferns has been performing magnificently at the world cup. This afternoon...
by Heather Hastie | Jul 26, 2015 | Human Rights, New Zealand, NZ Politics, US Politics, Winners and Worries
This is a new weekly feature I’m introducing – I’m hoping that I’ll keep it up and it’ll mean I’m posting something at least once a week. I’ve been pretty slack lately – just this week I’ve written half of three...
by Heather Hastie | May 14, 2015 | Atheism, Democracy, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Religion
On 21 April, Bangladesh’s The Daily Star published an opinion article entitled The extent of freedom of expression. It was written by senior law lecturer Mirza Farzana Iqbal Chowdhury of Daffodil International University, a private university in the Bangladeshi...
