Raif Badawi, who campaigned for freedom of expression and criticized the religious police, was accused of insulting Islam. Now he’s free.
Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi has been released ten days after serving his sentence. That said his Wife Ensaf Haidar who lives in Canada and campaigned for his release from there, the AFP news agency.
Raif Badawi founded an online forum called “The Saudi Liberals” in 2008, in which he discussed religious and social issues with exceptional openness. He campaigned for freedom of expression and women’s rights and criticized the Saudi religious police for their harsh treatment.
He even went on a hunger strike
Security forces arrested the blogger in 2012, and in 2014 the Saudi judiciary sentenced him to ten years in prison, a ten-year travel ban after the end of his sentence and a fine of around 238,000 euros and 1,000 strokes of the cane. He was accused of insulting Islam with his blog entries by suggesting the separation of state and religion.
Writers, celebrities and human rights activists around the world have since called for Badawi’s release. The blogger went on a hunger strike at times to protest the poor prison conditions. According to estimates by the human rights organization Amnesty International, there are at least 3,000 political prisoners in Saudi Arabia.