Update: March 7, 2022: There is no word on the release of Raif Badawi, even though he has served his sentence in Saudi Arabia. Amnesty urges release of blogger after sentence expires Middle East Eye
As Vladimir Putin launches an unprovoked assault on Ukraine — stunning global citizens who see Putin as a malevolent war criminal gone wild in his barbarity against the totally innocent people of Ukraine — there is hope that Saudi blogger Raif Badawi might be released.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 on accusations of insulting Islamic religious figures on his blog Free Saudi Liberals. In a 2014 court decision that stunned human-rights activists as unjust, Mr. Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The further sentence of 1,000 lashes for blasphemy — a sentence that would absolutely kill him — created gasps of horror worldwide, including on Anne of Carversville. The author was also fined $266,000.
Badawi received the first 50 lashes in April 2015 — which did nearly kill him — and was not subjected to further flogging scheduled in June of 2015, as his body hadn’t healed. In April 2020, Saudi Arabia bowed to international pressure and abolished flogging. The result was the cancellation of the remaining 950 lashes of Raif Badawi’s sentence.
Hopes are high that Raif Badawi may be released from jail in days. Badawi has spent almost ten years in prison, and often total isolation. The dissident was sentenced using the Islamic — or hijri — calendar. By that calendar's reckoning, on Rajab 26 1443, he will have spent 10 years in jail. The actual date on the Georgian calendar is February 28.
Human rights group Amnesty International has campaigned for Badawi’s release for years, along with other organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. Amnesty International believes that the release could be imminent.
