Raif Badawi

Raif Badawi (Arabic رائف بدوي ) is a Saudi Internet activist and political prisoner.

Bawadi founded in 2008, the online forum " Free Saudi liberals " ( لليبراليون السعوديون ), a website about politics and religion in Saudi Arabia. The authorities responded with repression, such as a travel ban and freezing of accounts. On June 17, 2012, he was arrested and it was a process initiated for apostasy. An Islamic legal opinion stated in March 2013 that he was a disbeliever. Among other things, he was accused, he had referred to Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists as equivalent. On July 28, 2013 it was announced that he had been sentenced to seven years in prison and 150 lashes four times.

International reactions

The Human Rights Commissioner of the German Federal Government, Markus Loening, called the ruling " not only disproportionate but inhuman".

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government-related organization in the United States, said he was " deeply concerned " ( Concerned deeply ) about the verdict.

Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience ( prisoner of conscience ), who was convicted because he did peacefully exercising his right to free speech.