Saudi Arabia to 'Review' Blogger's Flogging Punishment After Outcry

Saudi Arabia has reportedly halted the public flogging of a liberal blogger following international outcry.

Blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 public lashings after he started a website in 2008 that encouraged fellow Saudis to openly discuss religious and political topics.

Badawi's first round of 50 lashings took place last week, and his wife, Ensaf Haidar, told multiple media outlets this week that she is unsure if her husband can sustain a second round of lashings, scheduled to take place Friday.

Following Haidar's statements of concern, the Saudi government announced Friday that the country's supreme court would be reviewing Badawi's case by order of the king's office. Badawi's second round of lashings have also been postponed for medical reasons.

According to BBC News, Amnesty International has confirmed that Badawi's second round of floggings were delayed because his wounds from the first round have not yet healed.

"Not only does this postponement […] expose the utter brutality of this punishment, it underlines its outrageous inhumanity," Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and Africa, Said Boumedouha, told BBC.

"The notion that Raif Badawi must be allowed to heal so that he can suffer this cruel punishment again and again is macabre and outrageous."

Haidar added to NPR that her husband was in severe pain following the first round of lashings.

"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," Haidar told NPR.