The fate of Raif Badawi is getting wide coverage in the media and deservedly so. To remind you: he was arrested in June 2012 and sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes by a Saudi Arabian court. However, an appeals court later overturned the sentence, ordered a retrial and handed down a 10-year prison sentence and 1,000 lashes spread over 20 weeks, along with a fine of about $260,000. He has had the first 50 lashes and, luckily, the second set has been postponed pending the deliberations of another court. This is probably due to the international uproar over his case rather than any humanitarian considerations, although it will undoubtedly be described as such. Do not be fooled, people.
And what are the heinous crimes that have warranted such barbaric treatment? Blogging about free speech, which attracted charges of 'insulting Islam and the government and apostasy'. Drawing any parallels between my blogging activities and his would be fatuous but it does bring home what we take for granted in this country. I can criticise and ridicule (and frequently do) as much as I like and the worse that happens is that I get the occasional adverse comment from a reader. Raif makes some relatively innocuous and nuanced comments (judging from what I've read of what he's written, I would not class him as a fervent radical) and the full weight of the state falls down upon him. Shame on Saudi Arabia: shame on our government for supporting such a cruel regime. Not in my name. Posh Dave, not in my name.
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