Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders

Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders

Singer Justin Bieber found himself at the heart of a controversy after deciding to attend a concert in Saudi Arabia, with activists calling on the Canadian pop star to cancel his visit due to the kingdom’s human rights violations.

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Justin Bieber, 27, is due to sing Sunday in front of thousands of people in Jeddah (west) on the sidelines of the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, alongside French DJ David Guetta and American singer Jason Derulo.

Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders

A priori lucrative, the decision of the singer of the hit Love Yourself to participate in the concert, however, aroused the ire of human rights groups. 

While Saudi Arabia seeks to soften its image as an ultra-conservative kingdom, the arrests of opponents, the rejection of the LGBTQ + community and the large number of executions in the country are regularly singled out by international organizations. (Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders)

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi assassinated in 2018 at his country’s consulate in Istanbul, has led the movement calling on Justin Bieber to cancel his visit. 

“This is a unique opportunity to send a strong message to the world indicating that your name and your talent will not be used to restore the image of a regime which kills its opponents,” she wrote in a column published in the Washington Post.

On social media, the hashtag #WTFJustin was widely shared, as a plane sported a “Why is Bieber singing for Saudi assassins?” Last month flew over Los Angeles at the American Music Awards. The Canadian singer has abstained from any comment.

Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders

“You can get the impression that it’s just Justin Bieber singing in front of an audience. But in reality, what is happening this weekend in Saudi Arabia is a complex subject, including who sings there and who drives there ”at the Grand Prix, said Professor Simon Chadwick, sports industry expert for the ‘EM Lyon Business School.

Like other countries, the kingdom wants to make sport a lever of influence to improve its image internationally. But, according to Mr. Chadwick, the authorities reject the accusations of “sportwashing”, preferring to present their interest in sport as a means of diversifying an economy dependent on oil. (Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders)

The kingdom uses its wealth linked to the exploitation of hydrocarbons to attract major sporting events and celebrities, also notes James Dorsey, a specialist in the Middle East at the University of Singapore. The Saudi authorities “are going to offer enough money so that this kind of thing (Grand Prix, concerts) is impossible to refuse”, he believes. (Justin Bieber arouses the anger of human rights defenders)

But for the president of the Saudi Automobile Federation, Prince Khaled bin Sultan al-Faisal, “it is not a singer who will (smooth) the image of the kingdom, but rather its leaders and its people”.

On the side of power as human rights defenders, “many instrumentalize Justin Bieber and make him something he is not,” says Mr. Chadwick. The singer “will on the one hand be severely judged by the liberals for having come to Saudi Arabia”. 

But “if he had not come, some in the Gulf or elsewhere would have seen him as an opponent of what is happening in these countries”.

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