Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released from prison after ten years. His wife, who lives in Canada, reports this. Badawi still has a travel ban: he must stay in Saudi Arabia for the next ten years.
Radawi is one of the most famous political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested in 2012 and convicted in 2014 for insulting Islam. In a blog, he had criticized the Saudi religious police.
A thousand strokes of the cane
Badawi was sentenced to ten years in prison, a fine of 238,000 euros and a thousand lashes. Radawi’s first public flogging sparked worldwide outrage in 2015. That year, the European Parliament awarded him the Sakharov Human Rights Prize. Badawi’s wife accepted the award.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have campaigned for the release of Badawi for years. Amnesty is happy that the blogger is out of prison. “But this travel ban is in fact another cruel punishment for him, because it means he has to remain separated from his wife and children who live in Canada for another ten years,” said director Dagmar Oudshoorn.
–
