The lashings a Saudi blogger was scheduled to receive have been postponed on medical grounds, leading to fears that he may not be able to endure the beatings when his punishment resumes.

Mr Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam and establishing a secular website, Free Saudi Liberals.

The prominent blogger was reportedly able to avoid the lashings today when a doctor said that he was not physically well enough to withstand the ordeal, as the wounds from his previous lashing had not yet healed.

His wife, Ensaf, who now lives in Canada with the couple's three young children, is concerned that her husband is too weak to endure the lashings.

Unconfirmed footage of Raif Badawi being flogged (Youtube) (Abdullah Hussein/Youtube)

The sessions are set to take place every Friday for the next 18 weeks, but she believes that with every lashing his health becomes more endangered.

Mr Rizvi, the best friend of Raif Badawi, who has written and campaigned against the flogging and imprisonment of his friend, told The Independent that he believes the international response to Mr Badawi's situation may have had some effect on the Saudi authorities.

“I think it is encouraging and the huge outcry may have some effect,” he said. But he cautioned that it was only “temporary” and the sentence still stands.

On whether he thought the sentence may be commuted or made more lenient, he said: “I hope that things will change because of the international situation, but the regime is very difficult to predict. It is encouraging, however.”

Mr Badawi avoided the death sentence when Saudi Arabia's High Court threw out the charge of apostasy, or renouncing Islam, in 2013.

In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Helvetiaplatz, Berne, Switzerland In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in London, UK In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Ensaf Haider speaks during a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Ottawa, Canada In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Warsaw, Poland In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests A poster depicting Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, asking for his immediate release, hangs on a gate of a building in Italy In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Paris, France In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi in Brussels, Belgium In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi AFP In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Ensaf Haidar, centre, wife of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, holds a vigil in Montreal, Quebec, urging Saudi Arabia to free her husband Getty In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Participant of the Amnesty International protest holds a banner which reads: 'Je suis Raif!' in front of the Saudi Embassy, The Hague, The Netherlands In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests People take part in a protest by Amnesty International, for the immediate release of the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, in front of the Saudi Embassy in The Hague In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests A participant attends the Amnesty International protest demanding the immediate release of Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, in front of the Saudi Embassy, The Hague, The Netherlands In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Amnesty International stages a protest demanding the immediate release of Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, in front of the Saudi Embassy, The Hague, The Netherlands In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Protesters simulate a flogging in front of the Saudi embassy in Washington, during a demonstration against the 10-year prison sentence and 1,000 lashes of Saudi activist Raef Badawi for 'insulting Islam' in a blogpost In pictures: Raif Badawi release protests Raif Badawi release protests Protesters simulate a flogging in front of the Saudi embassy in Washington, during a demonstration against the 10-year prison sentence and 1,000 lashes of Saudi activist Raef Badawi for 'insulting Islam' in a blogpost

Said Boumedouha, a deputy director at Amnesty International, said: “Not only does this postponement on health grounds expose the utter brutality of this punishment, it underlines its outrageous inhumanity.



“The notion that Raif Badawi must be allowed to heal so that he can suffer this cruel punishment again and again is macabre and outrageous.