Haidar agrees with her husband about the need to abolish the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, commonly known as the Mutawwa. International bodies and human rights organizations demanded the release of Raif Badawi immediately out of respect for freedom of opinion. According to Haidar, Muhammad Badawi, Raif's father, said in a number of media interviews that "his son is an atheist, demanding that he be punished on the air", although Raif recited the Shahada in court to disprove any claims of himself being an atheist and prior to this, he had made Umrah with their three children. In 2015, Haidar accepted, on her husband's behalf, the Sakharov Prize for human rights awarded by the European Parliament. In 2016, Haidar asked the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau to grant Canadian citizenship to her husband, but Trudeau rejected the suggestion because dual nationality is not recognized by Saudi Arabia. Trudeau called for the release of her husband at the 2018 G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Haidar holds a protest every Friday during Jumu'ah in front of Sherbrooke City Hall. Political involvement Haidar supported the right-wing populist People's Party of Canada upon its foundation in 2018. By the time of the 2019 federal election, however, rumors circulated that she would run as a candidate for the Quebec sovereigntist Bloc Québécois, but she denied these affirmations. In the 2021 federal elections, she steps up for nomination as Bloc Quebecois candidate in Sherbrooke. She is officially nominated as a candidate on August 10, 2021. She came in second. Awards and honours Swiss Freethinker Prize 2015, shared with Raif Badawi and Waleed Abulkhair 40th Anniversary of the Charter – Ambassador Quebec 2016 Deschner Prize 2016, by the Giordano Bruno Foundation, shared with Raif Badawi Goldene Victoria Prize 2017, by the VDZ night publisher Henry Zumach Freedom From Religion Foundation Award 2018, by the FFRF International Laïcité Award 2018, by Comité Laïcité République shared with Raif Badawi. The honorary membership 2019, by Cambridge Union shared with Raif Badawi. Citizenship Haidar and her three children with Badawi became Canadian citizens on Canada Day (July 1), 2018. On the same day Haidar called for the niqab to be banned. See also Women's rights in Saudi Arabia Saudi Canadians References 1975 births Living people Canadian human rights activists Women human rights activists Canadian women activists Saudi Arabian human rights activists People from Sherbrooke