Raif Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of insulting Islam through electronic channels and brought to court on several charges including apostasy. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a website that championed free speech in Saudi Arabia. His blog, the Saudi Free Liberals Forum, was shut down after his arrest in 2012.
The first 50 were administered on January 9, 2015. The next four sessions were postponed due to Badawi's poor health. However, the most recent session has been postponed, not on medical grounds, but due to the global outrage and pressure.
Amnesty International has a petition with over a million signatures already added. We encourage all our readers to sign this petition by clicking HERE
FREE RAIF BADAWI
Aseem Trivedi is an independent cartoonist and free speech activist from New Delhi, India. He is creating a cartoon for each of the 50 lashes Raif Badawi has received. Above is number 7 in his series of 50. Vive Charlie will be featuring his cartoons each week so please follow him on twitter.