RIYADH —
Saudi Arabia confirmed Saturday a 10-year travel ban for freed blogger and human
rights activist Raif Badawi, who has become a symbol of freedom of expression
around the world.
اضافة اعلان
"The sentence handed down to Raif was
10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The
court ruling holds up and is final," an interior ministry official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
"Therefore, he cannot leave the kingdom
for another 10 years unless a (royal) pardon is issued," the official
said, a day after Badawi was released from detention.
Badawi, now 38, was arrested and detained in
Saudi Arabia in 2012 on charges of "insulting Islam".
At the end of 2014, he was sentenced to 10
years in prison and 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks.
His first flogging in the kingdom's Jeddah
square shocked the world and was described by the
UN as "cruel and
inhuman." After the outcry, he was not lashed again.
On Friday, Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar, who
lives in
Canada with their three children, told AFP: "Raif called me. He
is free."
It was later confirmed by a Saudi security
official, but details of Badawi's release were not revealed.
Amnesty International said on Friday it
would "actively work to have any conditions lifted", noting that
Badawi could face a 10-year travel ban.
Raif Badawi's sister, Samar Badawi, as well
as activist Nassima Al-Sadah, released in 2021, also remain stranded in the
kingdom.
Canada's Quebec province has paved the way
for Badawi to come to the country if he chooses by placing him on a priority
list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
