Raif Badawi has been jailed for ten years and will receive 1000 lashes for starting a website for social and political debate in Saudi Arabia.

HE IS brought before the crowd and whipped relentlessly 50 times with a long, hard cane.

But his wounds won’t have healed by the time Raif Badawi is due to be brought back to the same site tomorrow where he will endure the horrific punishment all over again - as he will every Friday for the next five months.

The father-of-three’s crime may seem innocent enough to most, but according to Saudi authorities Badawi, who set up a website for public debate, he insulted Islam.

The blogger, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes for setting up the Saudi Arabian Liberals website, was publicly flogged last week after Friday prayers when he was lashed 50 times outside al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah.

One eyewitness told human rights organisation Amnesty International that Badawi was lashed on his back and legs without any break for at least five minutes.

“Raif was escorted from a bus and placed in the middle of the crowd, guarded by eight or nine officers,” the witness said.

“He was handcuffed and shackled but his face was not covered — everyone could see his face.

“A security officer approached him from behind with a huge cane and started beating him. Raif raised his head towards the sky, closing his eyes and arching his back. He was silent, but you could tell from his face and his body that he was in real pain.”

Shackled throughout the lashing, Raif had to listen to the crowd shouting, “Allah-hu Akbar! Allah-hu Akbar!” as if he had been “purified”.

Witnesses said they knew a public punishment was coming after noticing a huge security presence in the streets and around the mosque. Some roads had also been closed.

Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, said she feared her husband may not be able to physically withstand a second round of lashes, let alone the same treatment every week for months.

“Raif told me he is in a lot of pain after his flogging, his health is poor and I’m certain he will not be able to cope with another round of lashes,” she told Amnesty International.

“I told our children about the news last week so that they would not find out about it from friends at school.

“It is a huge shock for them. International pressure is crucial, I believe if we keep up the support it will eventually pay off. We must keep on fighting.”

SIGN THE PETITION TO FREE RAIF BADAWI HERE

In a video uploaded to YouTube which purports to show the flogging, a man in uniform can be seen striking a shackled prisoner with a cane as a crowd gathers around.

The video is yet to be verified, however Badawi’s wife told CNN it was difficult to watch.

“It’s a scene I cannot describe, it was horrible,” she said. “Every lash killed me.”

THE CRIME:

His brutal punishment follows his arrest in 2012 after he created an online forum that his wife insists was meant to encourage discussion about faith. Following his arrest, his wife and children Najwa, Tirad and Myriyam left the kingdom for Canada.

Last year, Badawi was initially sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in relation to the charges. But after an appeal, the judge stiffened the punishment.

The charges related to articles he wrote criticising religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, as well as pieces written by others that were published on his website.

According to Amnesty International, the prosecution had called for him to be tried for ‘apostasy’ (when a person abandons their religion), which carries the death sentence. As well as the weekly flogging, the 31-year-old’s sentence also includes a 10-year travel ban, and a ban on appearing on media outlets.

THE WORLD REACTS:

Badawi’s sentencing and brutal punishment has sparked human rights groups to call on Saudi authorities to halt the brutal form of punishment and allow its citizens simple freedom of expression.

Amnesty International said Saudi authorities have an opportunity to improve their appalling human rights record by heeding the international outcry about the public flogging.

Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said the world’s spotlight is shining on Saudi Arabia following the brutal flogging.

“If authorities ignore widespread criticism and unashamedly continue with the flogging of Raif Badawi, Saudi Arabia would be demonstrating contempt for international law and disregard for world opinion,” he said.

“Flogging and other forms of corporal judicial punishment violate the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. By continuing to dole out this inhuman punishment the Saudi Arabian authorities are flagrantly flouting basic human rights principles.”

Badawi’s horrific punishment has raised concerns from the international community, with the US, Canada, Germany and Norway all condemning the flogging while thousands of others across the world have expressed their outrage over the case on social media.

Flogging of activist Raid Badawi brings to light the realities of punishment for liberalism in Saudi Arabia. http://t.co/weXRKmPHsp — Alyssa Chassman (@alyssachassman) January 12, 2015

Cruel! Abhorrent! -‘He was silent but you could tell that he was in real pain’ #RaidBadawi was flogged tday http://t.co/7nAcaEjTlR #FreeRaif — Melanie Le Forestier (@_melanne) January 9, 2015

Saudi Arabian Raid Badawi sentenced to 50 lashes for encouraging free speech,txt HALT1 & name to 70505 ammesty international to stop this — Ruby (@rubypurewal) January 8, 2015

Blogger Raid Badawi receives first 50 of 1000 lashes in Saudi Arabia. Outrageous. Read more: http://t.co/AtFJ3rDXaH pic.twitter.com/EXoYygHoaj — Daniel Gennaoui (@DanielGennaoui) January 14, 2015

BRUTAL LAW:

Badawi’s case isn’t the first time such a flogging has shocked the world.

In 2012, Australian man Mansour Almaribe received 75 lashes in Saudi Arabia after being accused of insulting companions of the prophet Mohammed.

Almaribe was arrested in the city of Medina on November 14 while making the Hajj pilgrimage and was originally sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in jail in Saudi Arabia, which was later reduced to 75 lashes.

According to Amnesty, Badawi is just one of many activists in Saudi Arabia persecuted for expressing their views online, yet Facebook and Twitter remain popular in a country where people can’t voice their opinions in public.

Authorities have responded to this increase in online debate by monitoring social media sites and Skype.

“Since March 2011 the Saudi Arabian authorities have continued their campaign of repression in the name of security,” Amnesty said.

“They have cracked down on peaceful activists calling for reforms and protesting against human rights violations.”

Saudi Arabia’s constitution gives the king and the ruling family absolute power over government institutions as well as affairs of the state. The country’s 27 million residents have no political institutions independent of government, and political parties and trade unions are not tolerated. Those who try to organise or take part in protests are often arrested, held incommunicado without charge and denied access to the courts to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

Badawi’s public flogging is not uncommon in the kingdom, which often carries out punishments in public.

Last August, Saudi Arabia executed more than 20 death-row inmates in a record mass beheading, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, with the country executing more than 2000 people between 1985 and 2013, Amnesty reveals.

According to Amnesty, people in Saudi can be executed for a range of crimes including adultery, armed robbery, apostasy, drug-related offences, rape, witchcraft and sorcery.

Most executions are done by beheading and many take place in public. In some cases decapitated bodies are left lying on the ground in public squares as a “deterrent”.