Raif Badawi

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Saudi High Court Ends Flogging
Flogging
Sentences
to End

Flogging Sentences to End

Rights group calls Saudi Arabia's decision long overdue

(Newser) - Crimes in Saudi Arabia will no longer be punished by flogging. The decision came from the kingdom's supreme court, the Guardian reports. "This is a welcome change, but it should have happened years ago," said a spokesman for Human Rights Watch. Rights groups have said flogging has...

Saudi Group Threatens Canada, Quickly Has to Backpedal

Kingdom is feuding with Canucks over women's rights

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia shut down the Twitter account of a government-linked youth group after it escalated the kingdom's dispute with Canada by appearing to threaten a 9/11-style attack on Toronto. The Infographic KSA site posted an image of an Air Canada plane flying toward the CN Tower, with the caption...

How I Told My Children Their Father Had Been Lashed
How I Told My Children Their Father Had Been Lashed
BOOK EXCERPT

How I Told My Children Their Father Had Been Lashed

Ensaf Haidar on the aftermath of Raif Badawi's first set of 50 lashes

(Newser) - "Will you promise me that you'll ... not tell the children?" So asked Saudi blogger Raif Badawi of his wife when he called in early January 2015 to break the news that the first 50 lashes of the 1,000 he had been sentenced by his country to receive...

Obama in Saudi Arabia, as 9/11 Looms Large Again
 Obama in Saudi Arabia, 
 and 9/11 Looms Large 
the rundown

Obama in Saudi Arabia, and 9/11 Looms Large

Tensions are especially fraught with an old ally

(Newser) - President Obama landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning at a time when relations between the two countries are especially dicey. Here's a look:
  • USA Today digs into five big issues, most notably a bill in Congress that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudis. Friction
...

Man Facing 'Most Gruesome' Penalty Wins Elite Award

Raif Badawi gets Sakharov Prize for human rights—but he's stuck in Saudi prison

(Newser) - A Saudi blogger has joined the ranks of Nelson Mandela, Malala, and all other notables who've taken home one of the European Union's most elite human-rights prizes—but as of now, he can't go and collect his award in person. EU leaders announced Thursday that Raif Badawi...

Flogging of Saudi Blogger Said to Be Resuming Soon

Wife says Raif Badawi could receive another 50 of his 1K lashes any day

(Newser) - Whippings could soon resume for a blogger in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam," CNN reports. Raif Badawi, who advocated for secularism on his blog Saudi Arabian Liberals, has been in prison since 2012 and received the first 50...

Blogger Facing 950 Lashes Could Get Death Sentence

Wife says apostasy charge may be reinstated

(Newser) - After an international outcry over the harsh sentence handed out to a Saudi Arabian blogger, the kingdom now appears to have decided a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes is too lenient. Raif Badawi's wife tells the Independent that official sources say charges of apostasy against him may...

Saudi Arabia Delays Blogger's Lashes Again

Raif Badawi's wife: He can't endure more

(Newser) - Amnesty International says authorities in Saudi Arabia have delayed the planned flogging of a blogger convicted of insulting Islam for a third straight week in the face of growing international pressure against the punishment. An AI rep says the London-based rights group confirmed today's planned flogging of 31-year-old Raif...

Blogger to Be Lashed 50 Times in Round 2—of 20
Blogger's Wounds Delay
2nd Round of 50 Lashes
UPDATED

Blogger's Wounds Delay 2nd Round of 50 Lashes

Raif Badawi sentenced to 1K in all, on top of 10 years in prison

(Newser) - A Saudi Arabian blogger and rights activist was set to receive his second set of 50 lashes today, but the flogging has been delayed. Raif Badawi, whose crime was creating a blog perceived as a slight to Islam, got his first 50 lashes last Friday, and Saudi Arabia planned to...

Saudi Blogger Gets 10 Years, 1K Lashes

Judge decides liberal Saudi's first sentence was too liberal

(Newser) - Founding an Internet forum to debate the role of religion in Saudi Arabian society has earned a blogger a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes. Raif Badawi, who was found guilty of cybercrime and "disobeying his father"—but not apostasy, which carries a death sentence —was...

Saudi Blogger Sentenced to 600 Lashes

Also gets 7 years in prison for insulting Islam, but avoids death

(Newser) - A Saudi blogger has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for using his website to insult Islam. Believe it or not, that's a lighter sentence than Raif Badawi, 35, might have received: he was originally arrested last year for apostasy (or abandoning religion), a crime...

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