It is a nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions.
The case attracted worldwide condemnation when he was publicly flogged in January.
Now his family say they have been told he is to be tried for apostasy.
“Apostasy charge is punishable under Saudi law with the death penalty by beheading,” they said in a message posted on Facebook.
“We also received confirmed information that the Supreme Court has referred Raif case to the same judge, who sentenced Raif with flogging and 10 years imprisonment.This judge is biased against Raif.”
Background to the case:
In July 2013 human rights activist Raif Badawi was sentenced in Saudi Arabia to seven years in jail, and 600 lashes, for insulting Islam. His sentence has now been increased to ten years and 1,000 lashes.
Raif and his children in happier times: one can hardly imagine how his family are suffering.
Badawi, founder of the Saudi Liberal Network, was convicted of “creating a website insulting Islam” and criticising the role of the notorious religious police. Before his arrest, Badawi’s network announced a “Day of Liberalism” and called for an end to the influence of religion on public life in Saudi Arabia. He has been languishing in jail since June 2012.
According to this report, the lawsuit against him was instigated by Saudi by clerics. An appeals court overturned the original sentence and sent the case back for the case back for retrial, which culminated in the even harsher sentence.
A further court upheld the 10-year jail sentence and 1,000 lashes – also ordered him to pay a fine of one million riyals ($266,666).
The rights group’s co-founder, Souad Al Shamari said:
The only hope now is an amnesty from the king or a swift move by the justice minister to form a fair judicial committee. Even the worst terrorists have not received such a harsh sentence.
Mr Badawi, 31, received the first 50 of his 1,000 lashes in January. The rest of his punishment has been postponed because of injuries he sustained.
The flogging was surreptitiously filmed on a mobile phone, with footage uploaded to the internet.
It was conducted with a flexible stick, in front of a large crowd in the public square by the al-Jafali mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. Mr Badawi was allowed to keep his shirt on, as is normal in Saudi Arabia, lessening the effects somewhat, but he can still be seen to flinch.
“Raif told me he is in a lot of pain,” Mrs Haidar said in an earlier statement released by Amnesty International, which has campaigned on his behalf. “He said that when he was being flogged he took the pain silently and rose above it, so that history will know that he did not react to their punishment.
Badawi was also given a jail sentence and a fine of £175,000 after being convicted of insulting Islam on a liberal online forum he created.
His family said he could not originally be charged with apostasy – abandoning his faith – because the criminal court could not deal with crimes that carry the death penalty. That changed with a new regulation passed last year.
Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi, takes part in a news conference calling for the release of her husband in January (Reuters)
They asked that Mr Badawi be pardoned and allowed to travel to Canada, where his wife and three children are now living.
“We call on the world citizens and governments not to leave Raif dragged by such bigots to death,” they added.
The death penalty is the standard penalty for apostasy in the Muslim world, though it is rarely carried out, even in Saudi Arabia which still carries out regular executions.
The Prince of Wales is believed to have raised the case during meetings with King Salman during a visit to Saudi Arabia in February.
How long will this courageous man be permitted to suffer?
We can only hope that the gale of protest around the world at the treatment of this entirely innocent man can cause the new Saudi regime to release him. These are our ALLIES, after all, with whom we have a huge trade relationship. That should count for something in asking them to listen to our concerns.
If you wish to do something, why not tweet your call for Badawi to be immediately released, using the hashtag #Raifbadawi ?
Alternatively, or as well, sign the change.org petition? Click below, and thank you:
https://www.change.org/p/free-and-safeguard-the-liberal-saudi-raif-badawy-no-600-lashes
Or perhaps you could simple share this blog on your blog, or on your Facebook page?
Whatever you can do to help, thank you.
Well, This Is What I Think 
This is what I do not like about fundamentalist religion. It is so narrow-focused and rigid that it is all too often unjust and terribly cruel. Will Raif be freed? Quite probably not, as to free him would be to admit that, at some level, he is right in what he says. Gives me the creeps.
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Thanks for the link Yolly, like most people I can’t remember which I have signed and which not – and trust that their computers stop ‘double-signing’ in error… I did also find these,
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-raif-badawi
https://www.change.org/p/save-raif-from-1-000-lashes
Then I found this http://www.raifbadawi.org/component/k2/item/411-petitions.html
which has a long list of petitions – am off to sign as many as I can – I would normally say all, but there are dozens upon dozens – I lost count!
At least Sweden has broken trade links with the Saudis (it helped that the Saudis insulted the Swedes’ [female] minister) – as a gesture of support for Raif Badawi… – if only all our countries were run by at least SOME people with principles.
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