Raif Badawi should be in Canada today, with his wife and their three children. Instead he is spending time in Briman prison, Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE: RAIF BADAWI HAS NOT BEEN FLOGGED FOR THE 6TH CONSECUTIVE WEEK. Raif received 50 lashes in public on Friday, January 9th during prayer time in Jeddah. Raif remains at risk of flogging as long as the court verdict and sentence remains in place. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING UP THE PRESSURE!
Authorities arrested Raif Badawi (pronounced Ra-eef Ba-da-wee) on 17 June 2012. They charged him with insulting Islam and creating the “Saudi Arabian Liberals” website for social and political debate. The charges are related to articles Raif wrote criticizing religious figures.
Raif Badawi’s case bounced back and forth between courts until 7 May 2014. On that day, the Criminal Court pronounced a sentence of 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes and a fine of 1 million riyals (about $290,000 CDN). After he serves a decade in jail, he is also forbidden to travel for the following decade and from participating in the media.