Adel Al-Juebir escalates row, asking for apology from Trudeau’s government over tweet calling for release of jailed activists

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has demanded Canada stop treating it like a “banana republic” and called upon the government of Justin Trudeau to apologize for calling for the release of jailed human rights activists, further escalating a simmering diplomatic row that began over the summer.

“You can criticize us about human rights, women’s rights … that’s your right. You can sit down and talk about it, but demand the immediate release? What are we, a banana republic? Would any country accept it?” said the foreign minister, Adel Al-Juebir, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, as world leaders gathered forthe United Nations general assembly.

Al-Juebirreferenced a tweet sent by Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, calling for the release of jailed activists Samar Badawi and her brother, Raif Badawi. Raif Badawi’s wife and children are Canadian citizens.

Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi’s sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.

It was a separate tweet of the same content, but translated into Arabic and sent by the Canadian embassy in Riyadh, that in August prompted a wave of anger from the Saudi government, culminating in the expulsion of Canadian diplomats, the near-cessation of trade and the removal of all Saudi medical students from Canadian universities.

In his comments on Wednesday, Al-Juebir also attempted to return the criticism, alluding to issues of separatism in French-speaking Quebec and Canada’s treatment of indigenous communities.

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“It is outrageous, from our perspective, that a country will sit there and lecture us and make demands – we demand the immediate release. Really? We demand the immediate independence of Quebec. We demand the immediate granting of equal rights to Canadian Indians,” he said.

“We don’t want to be a political football in Canada’s domestic politics. Find another ball to play with. It’s very easy to fix. Apologize and say you made a mistake.”

Earlier in the week, Freeland had expressed optimism that the two countries would be able to mend what has become a fractious relationship.

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Freeland has previously refused to apologize for the comment and on Tuesday, reiterated her support for the activists.

“Canada will always stand up for human rights … we feel a particular obligation to women who are fighting for their rights around the world,” she said on Tuesday, before the Saudi request for an apology. “And we feel a particular obligation to people who have a personal connection to Canada.”