Editor:
Re: Blogger should be released from prison, Jan. 13 column.
The Jan. 13 Peace Arch News features more piffle and rhetoric from BC Views columnist Tom Fletcher (Avatar sequel bombs in Walbran), but it also has included the wisdom and insight of Youth Voice columnist Japreet Lehal.
Lehal is correct in stating “Canada’s foreign policy should include holding governments accountable for (their) actions and ensuring that human rights take precedence over trade deals”.
Japreet is referring specifically to the case of Raif Badawi, however another reference could include then-prime minister Stephen Harper’s deal in sending militarized trucks to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government is notorious when it comes to relieving the heads from the bodies of their own citizens, as well as those from other countries.
Fran Manary, Surrey
• • •
Youth Voice columnist Japreet Lehal writes an excellent monthly column which I never miss.
He writes with a passion for the underdog and his English is a pleasure to read.
In this column, he passionately defends a Saudi Arabian blogger who was lashed and jailed for expressing his viewpoints. He states that an innocent individual is locked up for exercising his freedom of expression and calls on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to contact the government of Saudi Arabia to seek his release.
The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs has talked with the Saudi Minister, but Trudeau has declined further action.
The Canadian government has been placed in a similar position on many occasions in the past few years, but they must still maintain diplomacy while negotiating with a foreign power that does not recognize human rights, or accept the concept of freedom of expression.
It is well known that Saudi Arabia is one of those countries. In this case, an individual was jailed for 10 years for apparently speaking out against the government.
I applaud columnist Lehal for his passionate support for this individual and his family, however, I disagree with his position that Canada’s foreign policy should include holding governments accountable for its actions.
The Canadian government has limited authority to impose sanctions on other sovereign countries, and our prime minister can do many things, but he can’t move mountains.
Bill Parrott, Surrey
