Too ill to be flogged: Saudi Arabia postpones blogger’s next 50 lashes

The flogging of writer Raif Badawi has been postponed on medical grounds, Amnesty International has said. Badawi, who was flogged 50 times in public a week ago by an Interior Ministry official, was due to face the same punishment every Friday until he had received 1,000 lashes, followed by 10 years in prison. Saudi Arabia has come under increased pressure from Western countries over its weekly flogging of Badawi for “insulting Islam,” particularly since the Paris attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine, which was condemned by Riyadh.

Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment.

UN commissioner Zeid Ra

The day before Badawi was due to receive his second beating, the UN human rights chief urged the Saudi king to pardon him and review the “cruel” penalty of flogging. The United States, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders all denounced the flogging as a horrific form of punishment, saying Badawi was exercising his right to freedom of expression. The co-founder of the now-banned Saudi Liberal Network was found guilty in a Saudi court of insulting Islam.

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