Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for 'insulting Islam'

29.03.2015 17:30

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has spoken for the first time since being jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes to say it was 'miraculous' that he had survived the first 50.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 for offences including insulting Islam, cyber crime and disobeying his father (a crime in Saudi Arabia).

Last year, the father-of-three was sentenced to 10 years in jail, a fine of 1 million riyals ($266,000).

His punishment also meant he would be flogged 50 times every Friday for 20 weeks - but after the first beating in January this year, these have been postponed each week on medical grounds.

His conviction sparked an international outcry and German weekly Der Spiegel reported Badawi's first remarks since being given the sentence today.

Badawi recalled how he received the first round of lashes in Jeddah on January while surrounded by a cheering crowd that chanted 'Allahu akbar' (God is the greatest), Der Spiegel reported.

In a letter which the magazine said was his first since being jailed, Badawi said: 'All this cruel suffering happened to me only because I expressed my opinion.'

His wife Ensaf Haidar said her husband is in 'a poor condition', adding he had suffered from high blood pressure and was mentally very stressed.

(dailymail.co.uk)

ANN.Az

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