Saudi court sentences liberal blogger to ten years in jail, 1,000 lashes and orders him to pay a £133,000 fine for 'insulting Islam'
- Raif Badawi was prosecuted over a website called 'Saudi Liberal Network'
- New sentence imposed after he appealed against original conviction
- Amnesty International says Badawi is a 'prisoner of conscience'
'Prisoner of conscience': Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who is facing ten years jail, a thousand lashes and a million riyal fine (£133,000) for 'insulting Islam'
A Saudi blogger is facing ten years jail, a thousand lashes and a million riyal fine for 'insulting Islam'.
Raif Badawi originally faced seven years jail and 600 lashes, but an appeal court overturned that sentence and ordered a retrial.
Amnesty International has called the new sentence 'outrageous' and says Badawi is a 'prisoner of conscience'. His website has been closed since his first trial.
Badawi was arrested in June 2012 and charged with cyber crime and disobeying his father - a crime in Saudi Arabia - in relation to his Saudi Liberal Network website..
The site included articles that were critical of senior religious figures such as Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, according to Human Rights Watch.
The prosecution had demanded that Badawi be tried for apostasy, a crime which carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but his original trial judge dismissed that charge.
Badawi's lawyers have slammed yesterday's sentence as too harsh, althought the prosecutor had asked for a harsher penalty, according to news website Sabq.
The ruling is subject to appeal but, after his last appeal led to a stiffer penalty, and with his original lawyer, human rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair, currently held in Riyadh's Malaz Prison on charges including 'breaking allegiance with the king', Badawi may think twice about challenging the latest ruling.
Khair was detained incommunicado in April after appearing in court in Riyadh on sedition charges, according to his wife.
Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Amnesty International, urged Saudi authorities to quash Badawi's conviction.
'The decision to sentence Raif Badawi to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes is outrageous,' he said.
'He is a prisoner of conscience who is guilty of nothing more than daring to create a public forum for discussion and peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression.
'The authorities must overturn his conviction and release him immediately and unconditionally.
'Raif Badawi is the latest victim to fall prey to the ruthless campaign to silence peaceful activists in Saudi Arabia.
'The authorities seem determined to crush all forms of dissent through every means at their disposal, including imposing harsh prison sentences and corporal punishment on activists.'
Human Rights Watch says Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally of the West in the Middle East, has a long history of suppressing free expression.
'What is different with these cases is the long prison terms imposed by the terrorism court on activists, sometimes ranging between 10 to 15 years,' said Adam Coogle, the organisation's Middle East researcher.
In a separate ruling on this week, a court convicted the administrator of a website on charges of supporting Internet forums hostile to the state and which promoted demonstrations, Sabq reported on Wednesday. It said he was sentenced to six years in jail and a 50,000 riyal fine.
The news website said another Saudi was sentenced to five years in jail for publishing a column by a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric on his website.
The world's top oil exporter follows the strict Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam and applies Islamic law, sharia.
Judges base their decisions on their own interpretation of religious law rather than on a written legal code or on precedent.
Middle East ally: David Cameron receives a, honour from King Abdullah. Human Rights Watch says Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally of the West in the Middle East, has a long history of suppressing free expression
Rattled by the uprisings that destabilised the Middle East in recent years, Riyadh has intensified a crackdown on domestic dissent with arrests and prosecutions.
In April, a Saudi court sentenced an unidentified activist to six years in jail on charges including taking part in illegal demonstrations and organising women's protests.
Another was sentenced to three years in jail for spreading lies against King Abdullah and inciting the public against him.'
One million riyals is equivalent to £133,000.
Islam abuser handed 10 years
JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR
Published — Thursday 8 May 2014
A criminal court in Jeddah has sentenced a Saudi man to 10 years in prison, in addition to 1,000 lashes and a SR1 million fine, for setting up a website and insulting Islam, an Arabic electronic newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Raif Badawi, the defendant, has rejected the court's preliminary verdict, but the public prosecutor said he wanted tougher punishment for the Muslim man for attacking Islamic faith.
The appeal court had earlier nullified the court's previous verdict on the man issued in Ramadan.
Badawi had been sentenced to seven years and three months and 600 lashes at the time.
The appeals court had also referred the case to another judge to give his verdict, sabq.org said. The previous judge had also ordered closing down Badawi's website.
Speaking with Arab News, Dr. Mohammed Badahdah, assistant secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, said the verdict was issued mainly because of his attack on Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). "These are red lines that nobody should cross," he said.
Badahdah criticized the double standard practiced by international human rights organizations that call for the release of Badawi. "These organizations close their eyes on rights violations in Syria, Burma and other countries," he pointed out.
Saudi bloggers backed the court decision and said the man, being an apostate, deserved harsher punishment. "The punishment issued by the court is soft compared to the enormity of the crime committed by the man," said Bandar, a blogger.
Others said the verdict would help the man change his narrative and appeal to God for pardon.
Another blogger urged the public prosecutor to explain his charges against the man.
"Let's pray for the man in the hope that he will be guided on the right path," said another blogger.
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