A blogger who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam has had his case referred to the supreme court by the king’s office in Saudi Arabia.
Raif Badawi was due to receive a second lot of 50 lashes yesterday, but this was postponed after a doctor concluded that his wounds from last Friday’s flogging had not healed sufficiently.
The news comes after protests against Mr Badawi's sentence, which includes a 10-year jail term, a media and travel ban and a fine. The 31-year-old had established a website called Free Saudi Liberals to promote secularism and freedom of speech within the country.
The Saudi regime has long been criticised by human rights observers for its repressive attitudes to women and its links to the Sisi and Assad governments in Egypt and Syria.
This week vigils have been held outside Saudi embassies in Berlin, Paris, the Hague and Tunis, and a number of governments have called upon the Saudi administration to reconsider Mr Badawi’s sentence.
In Dublin the Department of Foreign Affairs expressed concern at the “nature and severity” of the penalty and said it was working with other EU member states on his behalf.
Prison clinic
It is unclear whether this pressure has had any impact on the decision to refer Mr Badawi’s case to the supreme court or to postpone his flogging.
Colm O’Gorman, director of the Irish branch of Amnesty International, said reports of the case being referred back to the supreme court offered a “glimmer of hope but that it was unclear yet what that could mean”.
There is little recent evidence that international opinion is a concern for the Saudi regime.
Despite criticisms, Saudi officials joined other world leaders in Paris last weekend in the march to commemorate the victims of the Charlie Hebdo killings.
The following day an appeal court upheld Mr Badawi’s conviction and extended his sentence.
On Monday, Burmese woman Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim was beheaded after being dragged through the streets. She had been convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of her seven-year-old stepdaughter.
The Saudi embassy in Dublin could not be reached last night for comment about Mr Bedawi’s case.