Saudi Arabian Blogger Sentenced To Prison, Fine & 1, 000 Lashes

I am worth more as a free blogger, not having my way paid. In my case I am paying my government and bank student loans and building a decent bank account with that same (mega corporate) bank.

BBC January 9

Cited

'A Saudi Arabian blogger has been publicly flogged after being convicted of cybercrime and insulting Islam, reports say.

Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail, was flogged 50 times. The flogging will be carried out weekly, campaigners say.

Mr Badawi, the co-founder of a now banned website called the Liberal Saudi Network, was arrested in 2012.'

Cited

'In addition to his sentence, Mr Badawi was ordered to pay a fine of 1 million riyals ($266,000; £175,000).

In 2013 he was cleared of apostasy, which could have carried a death sentence.

Last year Mr Badawi's lawyer was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of a range of offences in an anti-terrorism court, the Associated Press news agency reported.

'Act of cruelty'

The flogging took place outside a mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after Friday prayers, witnesses said. AFP news agency, quoting people at the scene, said Mr Badawi arrived at the mosque in a police car and had the charges read out to him in front of a crowd. He was then made to stand with his back to onlookers and whipped, though he remained silent, the witnesses said. 

The sentence was widely condemned by human rights groups.

"The flogging of Raif Badawi is a vicious act of cruelty which is prohibited under international law," said Said Boumedouha of Amnesty International. "By ignoring international calls to cancel the flogging Saudi Arabia's authorities have demonstrated an abhorrent disregard for the most basic human rights principles."

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict version of Islamic law and does not tolerate political dissent. It has some of the highest social media usage rates in the region, and has cracked down on domestic online criticism, imposing harsh punishments.'

End Citations

I am making no specific moral or legal judgments in regard to Mr. Badawi or his lawyer, or their character. I do not know the extent of the crimes they were supposedly guilty of in specific context.

I am concerned that a State is charging and convicting persons with religious crimes against the State.

Saudi Arabia has strict Islamic law related to culture and therefore is an Islamic State which is largely intolerant of opposing religious and political views.

Saudi Arabia is a prime example for those in the Western world with secular worldviews, Christian and other views that support democracy and reasonable freedoms that this type of State Islam is very much opposed to democracy and freedom.

Therefore in the West, even in initial stages with growing Islamic populations, to prevent possible political radicalization which risks Western democracy and freedom on a large demographic scale, Sharia law or Islamic law should not be legally permitted as law of the land, in any sense, in the Western world. Instead all citizens should live under the same law, yet with reasonable religious freedoms.

In the same way, that as a Christian, I do not legally in the Western world live under 'Christian law' or Mosaic Law and yet I have reasonable religious freedom to follow the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and Biblical Theology.

London-trekearth