In May 2014, Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website.” The lashes were to be administered 50 at a time, and the first flogging was delivered as scheduled on January 9, 2015. The governments of the USA, Canada, Germany, and Norway, among others, issued condemnations. Subsequent sessions scheduled to take place weekly were postponed indefinitely out of fears for Badawi’s health.

On August 30, 2020, Badawi was subject to an assassination attempt in prison by an individual who had been arrested for being a member of a terrorist group. Canadian lawmakers unanimously voted to offer Badawi citizenship on January 28, 2021, an action which remains largely symbolic as the Canadian Minister of Immigration has not acted on the motion. On March 8, 2021, new investigations were opened against Badawi and his family for “inciting public opinion” and “harming the reputation of the Kingdom.” Badawi was released conditionally on March 11, 2022 under restrictions that could include a ten-year travel ban. Saudi authorities delayed his conditional release over a week past the date by which he had completed his ten-year sentence, February 28, 2022.

Case History

Raif Badawi is a Saudi blogger and activist who co-founded and edited the web forum Liberal Saudi Network, an outlet meant to foster political and social debate in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested on June 17, 2012, after organizing a “Day of Liberalism” Conference which was ultimately banned by the authorities. He was charged with “insulting Islam,” “founding a liberal website,” and “adopting liberal thought.” On July 29, 2013, a court in Jeddah convicted and sentenced Badawi to seven years and three months in prison and 600 lashes. The judge also ordered that his website, Liberal Saudi Network, be shut down.

Badawi’s lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, submitted an appeal citing procedural and evidence-based reasons why the conviction should be overturned and Badawi should be freed. In December 2013, the Court of Appeals reversed the ruling of the District Court in Jeddah, ordering that Badawi’s case be sent for review by another court. On May 7, 2014, Jeddah’s Criminal Court sentenced Badawi to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals (approx. US$266,631) on charges of “insulting Islam” and “founding a liberal website.”

The 1,000 lashes, originally to be carried out in 50-lash sessions once a week for 20 weeks, stopped after the first session on January 9, 2015, out of fears for Badawi’s health. Born in 1984, Badawi suffers from diabetes, and is reported to be in poor health, greatly exacerbated by the lashings. Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, and three children sought asylum in Canada after his arrest, and Haidar continues to campaign for her husband’s release from Québec, where she maintains his official Twitter account.

When Badawi finished serving his sentence on February 28, 2022, Saudi officials refused to release him. Only after international calls for his release was Badawi freed on March 11, but he remains under a 10-year travel ban and faces a 10-year ban on participating in visual, electronic, and written media.

Raif Badawi is an honorary member of PEN Canada, Danish PEN, and German PEN, as well as the winner of the 2014 Reporters Without Borders Prize for Press Freedom in the “Netizen” Category, the 2014 One Humanity Award from PEN Canada, and the 2015 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament. 

For more information about his case, read PEN International’s interview with Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar here.

PEN also calls for the release of Badawi’s lawyer Waleed Abu Al-Khair, arrested on April 15, 2014.