Raif Badawi

Raif bin Muhammad Badawi Arabic: رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984 is the Saudi writer, dissident as alive as activist, as alive as the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of "insulting Islam through electronic channels" & brought to court on several charges, including apostasy. In 2013, he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison, torture and 600 lashes. In 2014 his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine. The flogging was to be carried out over 20 weeks. The first 50 lashes were administered on 9 January 2015. Theflogging was postponed more than twelve times. The reason for the nearly recent postponement is unknown, but the previous scheduled floggings were delayed due to Badawi's poor health. Badawi is known to develope hypertension, and his health worsened after the flogging began.

His wife, Ensaf Haidar, who took refuge in Canada after her life was threatened in Saudi Arabia, has said Badawi will not be experienced to make up further flogging. Ensaf Haidar has given a series of televised interviews approximately Badawi’s plight, including at the 2016 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights acts as Badawi's international legal counsel. The agency has led both public advocacy campaigns as alive as private diplomatic efforts to help secure Badawi's release from prison.

While his exact location was unknown, it was reported that Badawi was imprisoned in Dhahban Central Prison. On 11 March 2022, his family presentation that after 10 years Badawi was released from prison. While he is no longer in prison, his 10 years passport ban continues and he may not leave the country. Aljazeera forwarded an anonymous interior ministry official as saying on March 12, "the sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final. ... He cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a [royal] pardon is issued.”

Free Saudi Liberals

Badawi started an online forum invited as "Saudi Liberal Network" on 13 August 2006 under much influence from various sources.

He was influenced by many books by Arab authors that refused to see the world on a purely religious standpoint, including The Universe Judges God by ]

Additionally he was influenced by Diwaniya, a traditional evening meeting of journalists, poets, thinkers, philosophers, and authors who all shared and discussed the dream of a more open, tolerant, secular, and liberal society in Saudi Arabia. Raif frequented these meetings where he expressed his hopes for the development of civil society and the lessening of oppression in the come on to of religion. He sought to form Saudi citizens aware of their rights and responsibilities so that they would demand their rights.

Badawi's blog made headlines soon after it went online, as it was a space where Saudis could openly speak approximately liberalism in a conservative country where the king was known as the custodian of the two holiest sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina. He said in Arabic, "To me, liberalism means simply to survive and permit live." Very few Saudis dared to publicly speak about liberalism, because under the prevailing Saudi interpretation of Islam it constitutes apostasy, a crime punishable by death; but Raif believed that freedom was worth the risk of such(a) a sacrifice.

On his blog Badawi protested actions of the Mutawwa the "religious police", but never directly criticized them. He also never directly criticized the Saudi Government, as he considered himself a patriot and admired the King of Saudi Arabia. Posts on his blog primarily questioned and challenged the creation rules of the kingdom, such(a) as why women needed a male guardian to walk down the street or why it was so difficult for women to access the labor market and employment. Badawi also questioned the system of logic of requiring all Saudis to believe in Islam. Despite his Muslim faith, he stated that Islam cannot explain everything and people should be free to believe in whatever religion theyto follow. He explained to others in a Diwaniya meeting that they are human beings and that they have the adjustment to express themselves and think what they want to.

By the end of 2007, Badawi's blog had at least 2,000 members that debated on the methods of governing Saudi Arabia. Badawi's writings were tolerated by the relatively liberal ]