Raif Badawi

Raif bin Muhammad Badawi (رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.

Raif Badawi was born on 13 January 1984 in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, to Najwa, a Lebanese Christian, and Muhammad Badawi, a Saudi Muslim.

His Saudi grandmother explained to him at a young age that Saudi society historically was not as strict and men and women used to work together in the fields.

Badawi's mother died young at an unknown age.

He was presumed to be raised by his father and grandmother, who had low income.

Badawi attended school until the age of thirteen when his father reported him for parental disobedience, a crime in Saudi Arabia, and spent six months in a teenage detention centre: subsequent bullying, Wahhabi indoctrination, and flogging caused him to be scarred deeply.

Badawi started an online forum known as "Saudi Liberal Network" on 13 August 2006.

He was influenced by numerous books by Arab authors that refused to see the world on a purely religious standpoint, including The Universe Judges God by Abdullah al-Qasemi, Arab Culture in the Age of Globalization by Turki al-Hamad, and Prisoner 32 by Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, an author that Raif deeply admires and was placed under his wing.

Additionally he was influenced by Diwaniya, a traditional evening meeting of journalists, poets, thinkers, philosophers, and authors who all shared and discussed the dream of a more open, tolerant, secular, and liberal society in Saudi Arabia.

Raif frequented these meetings where he expressed his hopes for the development of civil society and the lessening of oppression in the name of religion.

He sought to make Saudi citizens aware of their rights and responsibilities so that they would demand their rights.

Badawi's blog made headlines soon after it went online, as it was a space where Saudis could openly speak about liberalism in a conservative country where the king was known as the custodian of the two holiest sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina.

He said (in Arabic), "To me, liberalism means simply to live and let live."

Very few Saudis dared to publicly speak about liberalism, because (under the prevailing Saudi interpretation of Islam) it constitutes apostasy, a crime punishable by death; but Raif believed that freedom was worth the risk of such a sacrifice.

On his blog Badawi protested actions of the Mutawwa (the "religious police"), but never directly criticized them.

He also never directly criticized the Saudi Government, as he considered himself a patriot and admired the King of Saudi Arabia.

Posts on his blog primarily questioned and challenged the established rules of the kingdom, such as why women needed a male guardian to walk down the street or why it was so difficult for women to access the labor market and employment.

Badawi also questioned the logic of requiring all Saudis to believe in Islam.

Despite his Muslim faith, he stated that Islam cannot explain everything and people should be free to believe in whatever religion they choose to follow.

He explained to others in a Diwaniya meeting that they are human beings and that they have the right to express themselves and think what they want to.

By the end of 2007, Badawi's blog had at least 2,000 members that debated on the methods of governing Saudi Arabia.

Badawi's writings were tolerated by the relatively liberal King Abdullah, but not by the religious police who arrested him in late 2007.

For many hours Badawi was interrogated regarding his activities, but was eventually released with no charges made against him.

Unsatisfied by the interrogation, the religious police made a surprise raid at Badawi's home a few days later to search for forbidden books, but left with nothing.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and brought to court on several charges, including apostasy.

In 2013, he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison, and 600 lashes.

In 2014 his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of one-million Saudi riyals.

The flogging was to be carried out over 20 weeks.

The first 50 lashes were administered on 9 January 2015.

The second flogging was postponed more than twelve times.

The reason for the most recent postponement is unknown, but the previous scheduled floggings were delayed due to Badawi's poor health.

Badawi is known to have hypertension, and his health worsened after the flogging began.

His wife, Ensaf Haidar, who took refuge in Canada after her life was threatened in Saudi Arabia, has said Badawi will not be able to survive further flogging.

Ensaf Haidar has given a series of televised interviews about Badawi’s plight, including at the 2016 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights acts as Badawi's international legal counsel.

The organization has led both public advocacy campaigns as well as private diplomatic efforts to help secure Badawi's release from prison.

While his exact location was unknown, it was reported that Badawi was imprisoned in Dhahban Central Prison.

On 11 March 2022, his family reported that after 10 years Badawi was released from prison.

While he is no longer in prison, his 10 years passport ban continues and he may not leave the country.

Al Jazeera quoted an anonymous interior ministry official as saying on March 12, "the sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final. ... He cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a [royal] pardon is issued.”