Saudi religious police crack down on bloggers

[Sally]

Good thing the Saudis don't have pull in most of the world when it comes to people criticizing religion. I think we all remember how they were going to go to the UN and have them make it a crime to say anything against Islam.

Saudi religious police crack down on bloggers
Blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashings by a Saudi court. His crime: using free access to the Internet to "insult Islam."


Week for week, Saudis in Jeddah can get a good idea of what happens to those who deviate from the path of righteousness. After fulfilling their duties of faith every Friday at al-Jafali mosque, people bear witness to a punishment carried out on Raif Badawi.

Tied up, the Internet activist and blogger kneels on the ground and receives 50 lashes. A court sentenced him to endure this every week for until he has received 1,000 lashes.


Badaw is being whipped for founding an Internet forum where Saudis can speak freely

Saudi courts sentenced Badawi because he dared to criticize the religious authorities of his country on his website "Free Saudi Liberals" - an Internet platform for debate on the role of politics and religion in Saudi life. For this and giving other Saudis access to such a forum, the judges handling his case deemed corporal punishment alone would not suffice. So, after seeking an appeal to his sentence of 600 lashings and seven years in prison, he was sentenced in May 2014 to a total of 1,000 lashings, along with 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 1 million riyals, equivalent to nearly 200,000 euros, for "violating Islamic values and propagating liberal thought."

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Saudi religious police crack down on bloggers Middle East DW.DE 05.12.2014

 

[Sunni Man]

And?? .....

 

[Delta4Embassy]

So you're not free to express yourself in KSA, and a citizen of KSA from INSIDE KSA creates a website where his fellow not-free citizens can unlawfully criticize the state's religion? And we're upset because...?

Wanna criticize Islam, the Saudi royal family, or other things, hey here's a thought, don't do it from inside the country that says that's your ass if ya do.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

How many Jews and Christians would LOVE to see their religions protected like Islamic countries protect their's? C'mon, be honest.

 

[Sally]

How many Jews and Christians would LOVE to see their religions protected like Islamic countries protect their's? C'mon, be honest.

Don't be ridiculous!!! As much as there are many people who would love to see others practice the same beliefs as they do, they certainly are not clamoriing for people to be lashed and imprisoned for saying anything against their beliefs. And they certainly would never think to go to the UN to ask that those who speak out against their religion should be treated as criminals.

 

[waltky]

Obama tryin' to save his hide...

US Appeals Flogging of Liberal Saudi Blogger
January 08, 2015 ~ The United States is asking Saudi Arabia to drop its sentence of 1,000 lashes for a liberal Saudi blogger, calling the punishment "brutal" and "inhumane."

Raif Badawi, who was charged with offenses including insulting Islam, is scheduled to receive the first 50 lashes in a public flogging after Friday prayers in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah. The blogger, who has been in custody since his 2012 arrest, was sentenced in May to the flogging and 10 years in jail. The Jiddah Criminal Court also ordered him to pay a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals, about $266,000. In Washington, the State Department on Thursday asked Saudi authorities to cancel the sentence of 1,000 lashes. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki urged Saudi officials to review Badawi's case and punishment.

"We are greatly concerned by reports that human rights activist Raif Badawi will start facing the inhumane punishment of 1,000 lashes, in addition to serving a 10-year sentence in prison for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and religion,” Psaki said. "… The United States strongly opposes laws, including apostasy laws, that restrict the exercise of these freedoms, and urges all countries to uphold these rights in practice."

Badawi also had been charged with cyber crime and disobeying his father and his faith, Reuters reported. The news agency said he had run the Free Saudi Liberals website, which included articles critical of Saudi religious leaders and historical Muslim figures. The site has been shut down, according to the Associated Press.

A representative for Amnesty International said the organization was aware of Badawi’s expected flogging. The human rights group said flogging "violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment in international law." Badawi is scheduled to receive 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks, Amnesty International has reported.

US Appeals Flogging of Liberal Saudi Blogger