An Amnesty prisoner of conscience since his arrest last June for insulting Islam, later tried for apostasy - you can read about him here - liberal Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been reported today to have been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes:
Badawi was arrested on 17 June, 2012 in Jeddah and was charged with “setting up a website that undermines general security” and ridiculing Islamic religious figures.
The Free Saudi Liberals website was an online forum for public discussions. It was shutdown following Badawi's arrest, and it had been blocked within the country for years. In today's sentence, the judge also ordered the permanent shutdown of the website...
On December 17, 2012, the case was referred to a higher court, The General Court in Jeddah, after he had been charged with apostasy, which carries the death penalty. Badawi was asked by the judge to abandon his views, but he refused.
Badawi is the father of three children who have left the country with their mother following his arrest. They are currently based in Beirut, Lebanon.
600 lashes are tantamount to a death sentence.
Posted by: Noga | July 29, 2013 at 10:43 PM
I wonder how many of those who are exercised by the situation of Bradley Manning take an interest in this case.
Posted by: Bob-B | July 30, 2013 at 09:21 AM