Saudi Arabia: Badawi’s sentence upheld

Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court ruled on 7 June that Raif Badawi’s sentence, of ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes, should be upheld. The liberal writer’s case has attracted much attention in the West, where human rights groups are vociferously campaigning against the cruelty of his being publicly flogged for expressing his opinions; among those calling for clemency have been the European Union, the United States, Germany, Sweden, Canada and Norway. Badawi, who edited the Saudi Arabian Liberals website, was arrested almost exactly three years ago, on 17 June 2012.