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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar/16/brother-of-man-executed-by-saudi-arabia-says-f1-legitimises-heinous-crimes>
"The brother of a man executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities last year has
accused Formula One of being complicit in “heinous crimes” perpetrated by the
state, which he insists is using F1 to sportswash an increasingly oppressive
crackdown on dissent.
When F1 returns to the Jeddah circuit this weekend it will be just over a year
since the Saudi state executed 81 men in one day, shortly before last year’s
grand prix. Afterwards the United Nations high commissioner for human rights,
Michelle Bachelet, reported the UN believed that, of the 81 convicted of
“terror offences”, 41 were from the Shia minority who had taken part in
anti-government protests, calling for greater political participation.
Mustafa al-Khayyat was one of the 81 men. On Thursday his brother Yasser
al-Khayyat wrote to the F1 chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, asserting that
he had been executed for nothing more than taking part in pro-democracy
protests and argued that F1’s presence in the Kingdom had emboldened the
authorities to act brutally and without compunction.
“They use the spectacle of this sporting championship to distract from the
murder of my brother and hundreds of others,” he wrote. “The grand prix
carrying on as normal, without even mentioning the atrocities that have just
been committed on that same soil, legitimises these heinous crimes.
“Silence is complicity. It is how the regime gets away with its atrocities and
suppresses calls for democratic reforms. If you truly want Formula One to be an
agent for change, rather than a tool to ‘sportswash’ Saudi abuses, please end
Formula One’s silence.”"
Don’t support Formula 1. Watch Formula E instead.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
