Any news on Raif Badawi?

[Sees]

I saw something a month or two ago that his case was actually in the process of being revisited once again. The first time this happened, he received a new sentence with additional years of imprisonment and more lashes tacked on. I know many nations have officially condemned the ordeal and asked for his (and others) pardon. Some have even broken various relationships and agreements with Saudi Arabia over this...but it's so quiet now media-wise.

For those who don't know much about him, he is/was a liberal atheist blogger from Saudi who was snatched up by officials and has been imprisoned for 2-3 years now. He has also already received some public lashing sessions in front of crowds.

 

[Augustus]

He's been nominated for an EU Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, although it probably doesn't mean a great deal:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sakharovprize/en/home/the-prize.html

He hasn't been flogged recently either. Not much else apart from that though.

 

[Kirran]

Is it definite he's an atheist? I thought that was unconfirmed.

 

[Sees]

Is it definite he's an atheist? I thought that was unconfirmed.

Actually, I have never seen a quote from him expressing that he is...liberal secularist may be more accurate than liberal atheist.

 

[Kirran]

Actually, I have never seen a quote from him expressing that he is...liberal secularist may be more accurate than liberal atheist.

Yeah, that seems fair. Could be a secularist liberal Muslim, although it's certainly plausible he's atheist. Wouldn't be safe to confirm it if he was!

 

[morphesium]

He's been nominated for an EU Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, although it probably doesn't mean a great deal:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sakharovprize/en/home/the-prize.html

He hasn't been flogged recently either. Not much else apart from that though.

Such Prizes are a motivation to others to think freely, to be freed from the clutches of their religion.

Only after Saudi Arabia wakes up from the darkage, they will realize how uncivilized they were in punishing Raif Badawi.
It shows how ugly their true face is behind the mask.

 

[columbus]

I'd like to ask a smart Muslim guy.
But I can't because Muslims are so peaceful.
Tom

 

[lewisnotmiller]

As far as I know, he's a Muslim. There was an attempt to try him for apostasy, but it was unsuccessful, as he's never renounced Islam (to my knowledge) but has been critical of the clerics and censorship in Saudi Arabia (in particular).
Having said that, he'd be borderline suicidal to claim atheism, so who knows?
His lashings have been stopped, originally on medical advice, but the failure to recommence them has not been explained (again, to my knowledge).

Language filters prevent me from saying what I think of this whole situation. Suffice to say my opinion differs from that of the Saudi rulers.