The wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi on Wednesday accepted the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize on behalf of her husband, urging Arab countries to tolerate differing views.

Ensaf Haidar told the assembly that her husband, sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, believed that "freedom of expression is like the air that we breathe."

Parliament head Martin Schulz, presenting the prize, called on Saudi King Salman "to grant mercy to Raif Badawi and without further ado release him and allow him to return to his family."