A group that is supporting jailed blogger Raif Badawi says his eldest sister has also been arrested in Saudi Arabia.

The Raif Badawi Foundation says Samar Badawi was detained Tuesday for allegedly posting on the Twitter account of her brother's lawyer, Waleed Abulkhair.

News of the arrest was also announced on Twitter by Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Sherbrooke with the couple's three children.

Foundation spokeswoman Evelyne Abitbol said Samar Badawi is being detained at the same prison as her brother and Abulkhair.

Raif Badawi, who is not a Canadian citizen, was arrested in 2012 for his criticism of Saudi clerics and was convicted in 2014.

He was sentenced to 10 years in jail as well as 1,000 lashes. He received the first 50 last January during a public flogging. His imprisonment has drawn widespread condemnation both internationally and in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month he had no "immediate plans" to call Saudi Arabian Authorities to ask that Badawi be freed.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion did raise the matter with his Saudi counterpart, Adel Al Jubeir, when they met in Ottawa on Dec. 17.

They discussed the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia as well as Badawi's case, and Dion reiterated a request for clemency.