Update: Saudi king refers blogger case to Supreme Court

Update: In light of international outcry over flogging, the Saudi king has referred blogger Raif Badawi’s case to Supreme Court, his wife tells LisaDaftari.com Saudi Arabia postponed a second round of 50 lashes for blogger and activist Raif Badawi Friday, according to his wife, Ensaf. Badawi, convicted of “writing anti-Islamic discourse online,” and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes to be carried throughout a period of 20 weeks, was flogged for the first time in a public square in Jeddah last Friday following prayers. This morning, Badawi was reportedly taken from his jail cell to be seen by a physician about the wounds he endured from his first round of lashes. The doctor said the injuries had not yet healed and that Badawi would not be able to undergo another round of flogging, according to Amnesty International. Badawi, co-founder of the “Saudi Arabian Liberals” website and a well-known thinker and blogger, was sentenced in May 2014 after he was found “guilty of writing anti-Islamic discourse online.” He was also fined the equivalent of $266,000, in a verdict Amnesty International called “outrageous.” In September Badawi lost his appeal against his sentence.

Statement from @statedeptspox on sentence of Saudi #humanrights activist Raif Badawi. http://t.co/TEnmJjWpmE

— Department of State (@StateDept) January 8, 2015

Last week U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called on Saudi Arabia to review Badawi’s case and “cancel this brutal punishment.”