US Appeals Flogging of Liberal Saudi Blogger

The United States is asking Saudi Arabia to drop its sentence of 1,000 lashes for a liberal Saudi blogger, calling the punishment "brutal" and "inhumane." Raif Badawi, who was charged with offenses including insulting Islam, is scheduled to receive the first 50 lashes in a public flogging after Friday prayers in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah. The blogger, who has been in custody since his 2012 arrest, was sentenced in May to the flogging and 10 years in jail. The...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - jeudi 8 janvier 2015