Saudi Arabia: Verdict on Blogger Stands

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-verdict-on-raif-badawi-stands.html

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The Supreme Court upheld an internationally condemned verdict against a liberal blogger who was publicly flogged after being found guilty of insulting Islam, state-linked news websites reported Sunday. The court’s decision to uphold the sentence of the blogger, Raif Badawi, 31, who was lashed in January in a public square, is final and cannot be overturned without a royal pardon. Mr. Badawi, above, imprisoned since 2012, was initially sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes on charges of breaking Saudi Arabia’s technology laws and insulting Muslim religious figures through a blog he created. After an appeal, a criminal court in Jidda last year stiffened the punishment to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. He was also barred from traveling abroad for 10 years after his prison term and fined $266,000. After the first series of floggings in January, subsequent lashings were halted as the Supreme Court reviewed the case. A person close to the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said that the Supreme Court’s ruling might exclude future lashings. It was not immediately possible to clarify the details of the judges’ ruling.