Omid Djalili responds to criticism of his decision to perform at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia

What the critics of the Riyadh comedy festival may have missed (Letters, 13 October) is the fact that performing comedy or any live event in Saudi Arabia was illegal until recently. Performers and organisers would run the very real risk of imprisonment by the authorities. Now those same authorities are paying comedians to come over.

I’m of the view that allowing comedians now, after banning them before, is progress. I could also make a robust argument that opposing this festival is unsupportive of progress. However, nuance is the hallmark of a mature approach to discourse, and while the festival could easily be seen as cosmetic, it was also a huge development.

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.