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Raif Badawi: Saudi blogger freed after decade in prison
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi - jailed and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam online" - has been freed, his wife says.
"Raif called me. He is free," Ensaf Haidar told AFP news agency from Canada, where she fled with the couple's three children.
The blogger's first 50 lashes caused a global outcry and he became an emblem of rights abuses in the country.
...
His sentence ended on 1 March. However, he is subject to a 10-year-travel ban and it is unclear whether he will face other restrictions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-60714086
"Raif called me. He is free," Ensaf Haidar told AFP news agency from Canada, where she fled with the couple's three children.
The blogger's first 50 lashes caused a global outcry and he became an emblem of rights abuses in the country.
...
His sentence ended on 1 March. However, he is subject to a 10-year-travel ban and it is unclear whether he will face other restrictions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-60714086
Badawi has been held since mid-2012 after he founded the Free Saudi Liberals blog. He used it to criticise the kingdom’s influential clerics who follow a strict, conservative interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism, which originated in Saudi Arabia.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/saudi-blogger-first-lashes-raif-badawi
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/saudi-blogger-first-lashes-raif-badawi
"Insulting Islam" meant calling out powerful men.