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Blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes in Saudi Arabia is flogged 50 times while shackled in chains outside mosque in first round of punishment for 'insulting Islam'
Online activist Raif Badawi publicly flogged outside Jiddah mosque today
Underwent round of 50 lashes in front of crowd while shackled in chains
Mr Badawi was found guilty of cyber crime and ridiculing Islamic figures
He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes in total and a decade in prison
The rest of the sentence will be carried out over a period of 50 weeks
A Saudi blogger underwent the first round of 50 lashes in public while shackled in chains for 'ridiculing Islamic religious figures'.
Raif Badawi, who co-founded the Free Saudi Liberals website, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison for insulting Islam on his online forum.
The start of his corporal punishment began after prayers today outside the Al-Juffali mosque in the city of Jiddah, which has earned the grisly nickname 'Chop Chop Square' as the site of executions.
Reports from 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 throughout the ordeal.
In a statement, Amnesty International said: 'He was removed from a bus in shackles and brought to the public square in front of the mosque.
'Surrounded by a crowd made up of the public and a number of security officers, he received 50 consecutive lashes on his back.
'The whole ordeal lasted around 15 minutes. Afterwards he was put back in the bus and taken away.'
The rest of the sentence would be carried out over a period of 50 weeks, the rights watchdog group said.
A whip, a leather strap or a long cane can be used to carry out floggings in Saudi Arabia, according to corpun.com, a website dedicated to the study of corporal punishment.
'Sometimes the lashes are confined to the buttocks, more often it seems they are spread out from the neck to the ankles, and usually with the prisoner simply lying face down on the ground.
'In one or two reports the offender was said to be tied upright to a post,' said corpun.com.
The sentence was widely condemned by human rights groups.
Said Boumedouha of Amnesty International said: 'The flogging of Raif Badawi is a vicious act of cruelty which is prohibited under international law.
'By ignoring international calls to cancel the flogging Saudi Arabia's authorities have demonstrated an abhorrent disregard for the most basic human rights principles.'
Mr Badawi was arrested in June 2012 and prosecuted for offences including cyber crime and disobeying his father. Following his arrest, his wife and children left the kingdom for Canada.
The prosecution had demanded he be tried for apostasy, which carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but a judge dismissed that charge.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,666) and 1,000 lashes last year after prosecutors challenged an earlier sentence of seven years and 600 lashes as too lenient.
Yesterday the US tried - but failed - to convince Riyadh to cancel the sentence of 1,000 lashes.
Badawi's lawyer Waleed Abul-Khair was sentenced in July to 15 years imprisonment and barred from traveling for another 15 years after being found guilty by an anti-terrorism court of 'undermining the regime and officials,' ''inciting public opinion' and 'insulting the judiciary.'
Saudi Arabia's legal code follows sharia law.
Judges are trained as religious scholars and have broad scope to base verdicts and sentences on their own interpretation of religious texts.
Read more: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi flogged 50 times for 'insulting Islam' | Daily Mail Online
Online activist Raif Badawi publicly flogged outside Jiddah mosque today
Underwent round of 50 lashes in front of crowd while shackled in chains
Mr Badawi was found guilty of cyber crime and ridiculing Islamic figures
He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes in total and a decade in prison
The rest of the sentence will be carried out over a period of 50 weeks
A Saudi blogger underwent the first round of 50 lashes in public while shackled in chains for 'ridiculing Islamic religious figures'.
Raif Badawi, who co-founded the Free Saudi Liberals website, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison for insulting Islam on his online forum.
The start of his corporal punishment began after prayers today outside the Al-Juffali mosque in the city of Jiddah, which has earned the grisly nickname 'Chop Chop Square' as the site of executions.
Reports from 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 throughout the ordeal.
In a statement, Amnesty International said: 'He was removed from a bus in shackles and brought to the public square in front of the mosque.
'Surrounded by a crowd made up of the public and a number of security officers, he received 50 consecutive lashes on his back.
'The whole ordeal lasted around 15 minutes. Afterwards he was put back in the bus and taken away.'
The rest of the sentence would be carried out over a period of 50 weeks, the rights watchdog group said.
A whip, a leather strap or a long cane can be used to carry out floggings in Saudi Arabia, according to corpun.com, a website dedicated to the study of corporal punishment.
'Sometimes the lashes are confined to the buttocks, more often it seems they are spread out from the neck to the ankles, and usually with the prisoner simply lying face down on the ground.
'In one or two reports the offender was said to be tied upright to a post,' said corpun.com.
The sentence was widely condemned by human rights groups.
Said Boumedouha of Amnesty International said: 'The flogging of Raif Badawi is a vicious act of cruelty which is prohibited under international law.
'By ignoring international calls to cancel the flogging Saudi Arabia's authorities have demonstrated an abhorrent disregard for the most basic human rights principles.'
Mr Badawi was arrested in June 2012 and prosecuted for offences including cyber crime and disobeying his father. Following his arrest, his wife and children left the kingdom for Canada.
The prosecution had demanded he be tried for apostasy, which carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but a judge dismissed that charge.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,666) and 1,000 lashes last year after prosecutors challenged an earlier sentence of seven years and 600 lashes as too lenient.
Yesterday the US tried - but failed - to convince Riyadh to cancel the sentence of 1,000 lashes.
Badawi's lawyer Waleed Abul-Khair was sentenced in July to 15 years imprisonment and barred from traveling for another 15 years after being found guilty by an anti-terrorism court of 'undermining the regime and officials,' ''inciting public opinion' and 'insulting the judiciary.'
Saudi Arabia's legal code follows sharia law.
Judges are trained as religious scholars and have broad scope to base verdicts and sentences on their own interpretation of religious texts.
Read more: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi flogged 50 times for 'insulting Islam' | Daily Mail Online
Is "insulting" the so-called judiciary akin to insulting Islam?
