House of Saud

Sir, – The reaction of western leaders to the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia highlights yet again their double standards and hypocrisy when it comes to human rights and freedom. They recently marched on the streets of Paris to defend the right to free speech and yet now they are falling over themselves to praise a tyrant. This man oversaw the subjugation of women, terrible human rights abuses and applied zero tolerance to dissent, as evidenced by the treatment of Raif Badawi. – Yours, etc,

BARRY WALSH,

Blackrock, Cork.