Montreal: Saudi Arabian blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, who was jailed for 10 years for allegedly ‘insulting Islam’, was released on Friday.
Badawi, who has become a symbol of freedom of expression around the world, was confirmed to be released by is wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and had been fiercely advocating for his release, according to AFP. ‘Raif called me. He is free’, she said.
After 10 years my father is free! pic.twitter.com/ZF2GePvHGu
— Raif Badawi (@raif_badawi) March 11, 2022
The 38 year old, who is a winner of the Reporters Without Borders prize for press freedom, was arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia in 2012 on charges of ‘insulting’ the relegion, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison as well as 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks at the end of 2014. His first flogging in Jeddah square in Saudi Arabia in 2015 shocked the world, and was described by the United Nations as ‘cruel and inhuman’. After the outcry, he was not whipped again.
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‘Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!’ Amnesty International, the Human rights NGO tweeted. ‘Thousands of you have mobilized alongside us in the defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. A big thank you to all of you for your tireless support’, the tweet added.
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