Dear colleagues,

This debate on Saudi Arabia is a good opportunity for us to ask the real questions.

Is it normal that this country is almost never cited in our emergency resolution, when it would deserve to be mentioned at many times in this hemicycle? First, there is the case of Raïf Badawi, the blogger who has been sentenced to 10 years of prison and a thousand lashes, just because he did his journalist’s job.

Then, allow me to highlight the words of IMF President Christine Lagarde, who mourns the Saudi king by saying, and I quote: “the death of a man who did a lot for women”.

Surely the king’s 4 official wives will appreciate, as will this Burmese woman who was beheaded a few days earlier in front of some officers in the Saudi streets. Or these 2 women living in jail since a couple of years because they dared to…drive a car. Yes, just drive a car!

For Raïf Badawi, but also for all these men and women whose only fault is to claim their rights, we must condemn these injustices.

One can’t be Charlie during an interview or a media event and then become #Iampetrodollars, without regard to freedom of speech or human rights, in a complete cynicism.