Taroudant- According to CNN, the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, founder of a website for political and social debate, “Saudi Arabian Liberals”, has been found guilty of insulting Islam through his website.
A Jeddah Criminal Court found the Saudi blogger, who was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes, guilty this week of apostasy. Apostasy could carry death penalty, according to Amnesty International.
Estranged from her family, Haidar said that her husband did not do anything wrong.
“It is an emotion I cannot describe. I never imagined this would happen,” she said. “I thought maybe they would reduce the sentence but this is unimaginable. The whole thing is about a website.”
The United States expressed its deep concerns about Badawi’s case.
“We believe that when public speech is deemed offensive, be it via social media or any other means, the issue is best addressed through open dialogue and honest debate,” state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a briefing on Tuesday.
Amnesty International considers Raif Badawi to be a prisoner of conscience, and called upon social media users to “take action and call for Raif Badawi’s immediate and unconditional release.”
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