It’s Thursday again. In a few hours it will be Friday morning in Saudi-family Arabia.

From Italy, via Ensaf Haidar:

From Tunisia via Ensaf:

Via Ensaf’s wall – Copenhagen today:

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Amnesty reports a new fact relating to Raif Badawi –

Raif Badawi was not publicly flogged on Friday 30 January for unclear reasons. Unlike in previous weeks he was not called from his cell and examined by the prison doctor. It is unclear why the routine medical check-up did not take place and or why the flogging was postponed.

Amnesty International also learned that Raif Badawi’s case was referred on 3 February from the Supreme Court back to the Court of Appeal in Jeddah. No further information about the details of this transfer were made available. The Supreme Court could have upheld the conviction and sentence, or it could have called for a retrial by overturning the sentence and conviction

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Wo.

The Beeb reports:

The new Saudi King Salman has issued a decree pardoning what are described as “public right” prisoners, which could include Mr Badawi.

Suad al-Shammary, a rights activist and lawyer who worked with Mr Badawi on his blog, was released on Friday.

She had been held for three months without charge over comments she made on Twitter, which her opponents portrayed as anti-Islamic.

Wo. If she can, Raif can.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar – who lives in Canada – told the BBC she was buoyed by Friday’s developments.

“I ask the world to remain by my side until Raif is released.”

Damn right.

She said she now hated Fridays – the day of lashings.

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Another action we can take, via Amnesty – send an email to Simon Collis, the new UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, asking him to

• Prioritise Raif’s case in all meetings with the Saudi Arabian authorities
• Meet with the Minister responsible in the Saudi Arabian government and ask permission to visit Raif in prison.

That will be a pain in the neck for the new ambassador, so he will want the Saudis to free Raif and let him leave the country immediately.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

A thought has occurred to me about Saud-family Arabia and the torture of Raif Badawi.

They’re boxing themselves in. By repeatedly postponing the torture, they’re admitting that they can’t do it without causing permanent damage. They have no qualms about doing that, of course, but they know they’re under a spotlight, and it must be getting quite warm there.

Hello Era of Social Media.

They’re stuck. This isn’t going away, and in fact it’s doing the opposite – it’s both growing and intensifying. They clearly don’t feel happy about just going ahead and flogging Raif again anyway…but nor do they feel happy about letting the horrible infidels and apostates win.

They should have thought of that sooner.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

The lashes were postponed again, with no reason given.

I wonder if they’re getting anxious about the rapidly spreading global odium.

I certainly hope so.

Raif should be in Sherbrooke with Ensaf and their three children.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Via Facebook.

 … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

A report commissioned by Amnesty International says – entirely unsurprisingly – that further lashes to Raif Badawi would cause permanent damage. Ludovica Iaccino gives the details.

Now, a medical expert from from the charity Freedom from Torture has warned in a report commissioned by Amnesty International that more lashes are likely to cause permanent damage.

Dr Juliet Cohen, head of doctors at Freedom from Torture, explained: “When the cane strikes, the blood is forced from the tissues beneath… Damage to the small blood vessels and individual cells causes leakage of blood and tissue fluid into the skin and underlying tissue, increasing the tension in these areas.

“The more blows are inflicted on top of one another, the more chance

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Ensaf Haidar tells us that Raif is all emotional about the Independent’s campaign for him.

Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger whose punishment of 1,000 lashes has led to an international outcry, is mentally “very strong” and taking great heart from the campaign to free him, his wife has told The Independent.

In an email exchange, Ensaf Haidar said she remains hopeful that her husband will be released soon, despite being sentenced to 10 years in prison and 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks for criticising the country’s clerics through his liberal blog. He is still recovering from his first round of flogging.

She talked to him five days ago; he said he’s still recovering but basically ok.

She

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Here’s a good one to pass around.

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Via Elham Manea on Twitter –

London –

Tunisia -

Jordan -

The people

united

shall never be defeated.

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

More protests in more places for Raif.

Via Amnesty on Twitter –

Belfast City Hall –

Via Amnesty Ireland -

The Saudi embassy in Dublin -

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Another protest, this time in Houston yesterday.

… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Hm. We have a discrepancy in what people are saying about Raif. As I posted a few hours ago, Amnesty says the doctors have said he shouldn’t be flogged again, but they also said

Raif Badawi is still at risk, there is no way of knowing whether the Saudi Arabian authorities will disregard the medical advice and allow the flogging to go ahead.

But the BBC is reporting that as Amnesty saying “Saudi Arabia has postponed the flogging” – which is inaccurate. Did the Beeb just misread it?

They go on –

Amnesty said the decision was made after doctors advised against this week’s 50 lashes on health grounds.

But Amnesty didn’t say that. They said the opposite, … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

Via Twitter –

FgN @felooz_tweets · 4 hours ago
Protesting with @SAIDYOUSIF in Berlin to demand freedom & end to the flogging of Raif Badawi. #FreeRaif .@amnesty_de

Another -

Cem Özdemir @cem_oezdemir · 7 hours ago
Jetzt vor Botschaft von #SaudiArabien in Berlin. Stoppt die Folter! Freiheit für #RaifBadawi! – Danke, @amnesty!

Another-

Conflict News @rConflictNews · 5 hours ago
Protest now infront of #saudi embassy in #Berlin demanding to stop the flogging of .@raif_badawi via @SAIDYOUSIF

One more -

FgN @felooz_tweets · 5 hours ago
With @SAIDYOUSIF protesting infront of Saudi Embassy in Berlin demandin freedom for Raif Badawi #FreeRaif @amnesty_de

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

The Guardian talks to Ensaf Haider.

A few days before his birthday, the liberal Saudi blogger Raif Badawi received 50 lashes in front of a mosque in Jeddah, his hometown. Thousands of miles away, in her modest basement flat in Québec, his wife decided to avenge his cruel treatment with a birthday party. She put a piece of cake aside to be frozen for him, just in case.

“I feel destroyed. But I don’t want to sit in a corner and cry,” says Ensaf Haidar softly, sitting on her eldest daughter’s bed. “That would be letting Raif and my children down.”

I so badly want him to get to eat that piece of cake…before it gets freezer burn.

Haidar

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)