The Saudi government is planning to resume the flogging of a blogger who they said insulted Islam. The blogger, Raif Badawi nearly died when he was flogged the last time. Raif, who is in prison, was sentenced to 1,000 lashes & 10 years in prison for insulting Islam in a post he shared on social media.
His wife, Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada, told reporters yesterday that the Saudi authority was planning to resume the flogging soon at the prison where he is being held. She said Raif is in 'a poor condition', and was suffering from high blood pressure and was mentally very stressed.
In a letter to a magazine after his first 50 lashes, and since being jailed, Badawi (pictured above) said: 'All this cruel suffering happened to me only because I expressed my opinion.'
Badawi, a father of three (pictured with his children) co-founded the Saudi Liberal Network. He was arrested in June 2012 under cybercrime provisions and a judge ordered the website shut after it criticised Saudi Arabia's religious police.
The network had also announced a 'day of liberalism' and called for an end to the influence of religion on public life.
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