On January 9, Raif Badawi received the first 50 lashes of his sentence in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. However, Saudi authorities postponed the second round of whipping, scheduled to be carried out a week later, citing medical concerns, press tv reported.
The Saudi regime’s treatment of the 31-year-old activist has been decried around the world, with Riyadh coming under criticism from the United Nations, the European Union, and others.
In a Saturday statement, a spokesman for the Saudi Foreign Ministry “strongly denounced the media campaign around the case of” Badawi and rejected criticism leveled at the judiciary in the monarchy.
“The kingdom does not accept any form of interference in its internal affairs and rejects… the attack on the independence of its justice system,” the official said.
Prosecution for Badawi began in 2008 after he co-founded the “Free Saudi Liberals” website, on which he criticized the influential Saudi clerics who preach Wahhabism.
He was arrested in June 2012 under cybercrime provisions.
Although his lawyers demanded a retrial, the sentence was upheld last May. He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, to be carried out in 20 sessions in front of a mosque, ten years in jail, USD 266,000 in cash fine, 10-year ban on overseas travel, and 10-year ban from participating in visual, electronic and written media.
Criticism of Wahhabi clerics is viewed as a red line as they are instrumental in supporting Riyadh’s policies.
International human rights organizations have lashed out at Saudi Arabia for failing to address the rights situation in the kingdom. They say Saudi Arabia has persistently implemented repressive policies that stifle freedom of expression, association and assembly.
