This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A woman who co-founded the Saudi Liberal Network internet discussion group with blogging activist Raif Badawi, has been freed after three months in prison, her daughter said on Sunday.

Souad al-Shammari had spent about 90 days at a women’s prison in Jeddah.

“She’s released now, thanks be to God,” her daughter Sarah al-Rimaly said, adding that her mother was released three days ago after signing a pledge “to reduce her activities”.

She was arrested in late October for insulting Islam, having posted comments on Twitter about Islamic religious leaders.

Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman issued an amnesty for some prisoners on Thursday, but Rimaly said her mother’s release was unconnected to that. She did not think the amnesty would cover Badawi, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence for insulting Islam.

As part of his sentence, Badawi was also ordered to receive 1,000 lashes, a punishment that has drawn worldwide outrage and been dismissed as “cruel and inhuman” by the UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein. The activist received the first 50 lashes of his sentence publicly in Jeddah on 9 January. Subsequent rounds of flogging were postponed for the following two weeks on medical grounds. A session last Friday was also deferred, said his wife Ensaf Haidar.