The Saudi blogger Raif Badawi and his lawyer Waleed Abulkhair have been detained in Saudi Arabia for six years. Badawi because he stood up for humanist values, Abulkhair because he defended Badawi in court. Badawi and Abulkhair are suffering under the harsh prison conditions, both went on hunger strike and are in very poor health. To draw attention to the situation of the two and to demonstrate to the Saudi authorities that the world is watching, vigils were called at short notice in various cities today. This was also the case at Helvetiaplatz in Bern, where a good 30 people gathered.

The political scientist Elham Manea, who has been campaigning for Raif Badawi's release for years, appealed to the Saudi regime, which is hesitantly heralding reforms, to release the prisoners who have been campaigning for precisely these reforms. Anita Streule, country co-ordinator for Asia, Africa and the Middle East at Amnesty, appealed to the Swiss Government to hold the host state Saudi Arabia accountable during the upcoming G20 meeting.

Andreas Kyriacou. President of Swiss Freethinkers emphasized that Raif Badawi and his lawyer Abulkhair were but two of countless political prisoners who have been locked away by the Saudi regime. Public pressure must therefore be sustained. Human rights and humanist organisations such as Amnesty and the Freethinkers contribute to this, as does every individual who helps to draw attention to the constant abuses in Saudi Arabia.

Raif Badawi, Waleed Abulkhair and Ensaf Haider, the wife of Raif Badawi, were awarded the Freethinkers Award in 2015, which was created in the same year. Ensaf Haidar, who was able to flee the country in time with her three children, accepted the prize in Zurich in person.

The Bern vigil was organized by Elham Manea, Amnesty Switzerland and the Swiss Freethinkers. We would like to thank all the members of the Berne section who responded to yesterday's e-mail appeal and were present at noon today.