We don’t flog people for “insulting Islam” in the free world. We just excoriate them as “Islamophobes” and deny them all social media platforms. We are much more civilized.
“‘They were cheering like it was a beach party’: Wife of jailed Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes shares horrific footage of him during flogging that nearly killed him and reveals she hasn’t heard from him in the TWO YEARS since,” by Sara Malm, MailOnline, August 31, 2017:
The wife of a Saudi Arabian blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for ‘insulting Islam’ has said crowds were ‘cheering like they were at a beach party’ as he was publicly flogged.
Raif Badawi, 33, was sentenced to ten years in prison and corporal punishment in 2014, and the first 50 of his lashes – which his wife says nearly killed him – was filmed.
She is now petitioning for the newly-instated Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to pardon her husband, urging Saudi-ally UK and Prime Minister Theresa May to put pressure on the Arab state.
Ensaf Haidar, who fled to Canada with the couple’s three children in 2013, tweeted the video from 2015 of her husband being flogged publicly this week.
‘This crowd is not a beach party, it’s how moderate Muslims act when they flog someone for expressing his own opinions,’ she wrote.
Ms Haidar has been campaigning tirelessly to secure her husband’s release, setting up the Raif Badawi Foundation to raise awareness of the case.
The first 50 of the 1,000 lashes Mr Badawi faces were administered in 2015, but following punishments has had to be postponed due to his health.
Ms Haidar says the 50 lashes nearly killed her husband, who suffers from high blood pressure.
She adds that the family have no idea how he is doing or when he is going to be flogged again.
‘We have not heard anything from Raif or from Saudi Arabia, but we know that he will face further punishment – we are not told when,’ Ms Haidar told MailOnline….