10/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Mark Demesmaeker says stopping flogging of Raif Badawi is a possible option for Saudi Arabia. MEP Mark Demesmaeker (ECR, Belgium), a member of a seven-strong European Parliament delegation that visited Saudi Arabia between 8 and 10 February, announced on Wednesday 10 February that Riyadh might consider not administering the lashes to which blogger Raif Badawi, the winner of the Sakharov Prize in 2015, was sentenced. “Release still seems taboo” but “stopping the thousand lashes is indeed an option now”, Demesmaeker said in a press release. He says that Saudi Justice Minister Dr. Walid bin Mohammad bin Saleh Al-Samaani would consider stopping the flogging, if Badawi's medical condition required it. The MEP stated, however, that he had not received a clear promise. While, in Demesmaeker's view, this action would be “be an important step in the right direction”, improving Badawi's “inhuman situation”, the European Parliament continues to call quite simply for Badawi's release. (CG)