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| Saudi blogger Raef Badawi |
Badawi did not cry in pain as he received 50 lashes, the first of 20 weekly whipping sessions
Jeddah: Saudi blogger Raef Badawi was flogged in public on Friday near a mosque in Jeddah, receiving 50 lashes for “insulting Islam”, witnesses said.
In September, a Saudi court upheld a sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for Badawi, and he is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete.
The United States, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have denounced the flogging as a horrific form of punishment, and said Badawi was exercising his right to freedom of expression.
Witnesses said that Badawi, 30, was flogged after the weekly Friday prayers near Al Jafali mosque as a crowd of worshippers looked on.
Badawi was driven to the site in a police car, and taken out of the vehicle as a government employee read out the charges against him to the crowd.
The blogger was made to stand with his back to onlookers as another man began flogging him, witnesses said, adding that Badawi did not make any sound or cry in pain.
The faithful who had emerged from noon prayers watched in silence and were ordered by security forces not to take any pictures on their mobile phones.
On the eve of the flogging, the US slammed it as an “inhumane punishment”.
“We are greatly concerned about reports that human rights activist Raef Badawi will start facing the inhumane punishment of 1,000 lashes in addition to serving a 10-year sentence in prison for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and religion,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
She said the US called on “Saudi authorities to cancel this brutal punishment” and to review his case.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the punishment was “barbaric” and noted its timing after Saudi Arabia condemned Wednesday’s deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
“Although Saudi Arabia condemned yesterday’s cowardly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, it is now preparing to inflict the most barbaric punishment on a citizen who just used his freedom of expression and information,” Reporters Without Borders program director Lucie Morillon said Thursday.
Badawi, who has been in jail since 2012, is a “prisoner of conscience”, said London-based Amnesty International, demanding his release.
Badawi is the co-founder of the Saudi Liberal Network along with women’s rights campaigner Suad Al Shammari, who was arrested last October and also accused of “insulting Islam”.
“Flogging and other forms of corporal punishment are prohibited under international law, which prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” said Amnesty’s Philip Luther.
Source: Agence France-Presse, January 9, 2015
‘He was silent but you could tell that he was in real pain’
An eyewitness account of the flogging today of Raif Badawi an activist in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a website for public debate. The witness has not been identified for security reasons.
“When the worshippers saw the police van outside the mosque, they knew someone would be flogged today.
They gathered in a circle. Passers-by joined them and the crowd grew.
No one knew why the man brought forward was about to be punished. Is he a killer, they asked? A criminal? Does he not pray?
Raif Badawi had been brought to the square in front of al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah just after midday. There was a huge security presence – not just accompanying Raif but also in the streets and around the mosque. Some roads had also been closed.
Raif was escorted from a bus and placed in the middle of the crowd, guarded by eight or nine officers. He was handcuffed and shackled but his face was not covered – everyone could see his face.
Still shackled, Raif stood up in the middle of the crowd. He was dressed in a pair of trousers and a shirt. A security officer approached him from behind with a huge cane and started beating him.
Raif raised his head towards the sky, closing his eyes and arching his back. He was silent, but you could tell from his face and his body that he was in real pain.
The officer beat Raif on his back and legs, counting the lashes until they reached 50. The punishment took about 5 minutes. It was very quick, with no break in between lashes.
When it was over, the crowd shouted, “Allah-hu Akbar! Allah-hu Akbar!” – as if Raif had been purified. Raif was taken away in the bus, back to prison. The whole scene had lasted less than half an hour.”
Take action and tell Saudi authorities to release Raif Badawi!
Source: Amnesty International, Human Rights Now Blog, The Editors, January 9, 2015
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