Ten years 1,000 lashes sentence upheld for Saudi blogger

Secretary of State John Kerry with King Salman of Saudi Arabia

In spite of a loud global outcry from many countries in support of Saudi liberal blogger Ralf Badawi the harsh sentence of 10 years and 1,000 lashes was upheld by the Saudi Supreme Court.

Badawi's offence was "Insulting Islam through electronic channels". He was arrested for the offence back in 2012.  He also was fined the equivalent of $266,000. He was also charged with "promoting liberal thought" and "going beyond the realm of obedience" through suggestions that Saudi Arabia should become more democratic.

Badawi had run the Liberal Saudi Network which encouraged debate on line debate about religious and political issues.  Global protests following the first round of 50 lashes in January moved Saudi authorities to send the case to the Supreme Court for Review. Subsequent lashings had been postponed. A medical report stated that he was not fit for further lashings. In March, the kingdom expressed its surprise and dismay at foreign reaction and rejected foreign interference in its internal affairs.

Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar and  thee children are in Canada after escaping Saudi Arabia in 2012. She lives in Sherbrooke Quebec.  She said after the announcement of the Supreme Court decision that it was a very difficult day for her. She was told that the lashes would begin again on Friday.

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The Canadian federal government says it considers the Badawi case a violation of human dignity and has asked for clemency. The Quebec provincial government has been even more vehement in its criticism of the Saudi punishment.

The Quebec premier, Philippe Couillard, did not back down on its opposition and torture of Badawi even though Naif Al-Sudairy sent a letter to the Quebec National Assembly telling it not to meddle in Saudi internal affairs or criticize the country's human rights record.

Part of the letter sent on March 10 read: "The Kingdom does not accept at all any attack on it in the name of human rights, especially when its constitution is based on Islamic law, which guarantees human rights (sic)."

 In February the Quebec National Assembly passed a motion that condemned the whipping of Badawi and expressed support for his wife and three children who are living in Quebec.

Additional Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/raif-badawi-prison-sentence-lashes-upheld-by-saudi-court-1.3103717
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/saudi-arabia-to-quebec-stay-out-of-raif-badawi-case-1.3017014