U.S. senators ask Saudi Arabia to cancel 'barbaic punishment' of blogger

Eight U.S. senators have written a letter to Saudi King Abdullah to urge an "immediate halt" to the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashings for criticizing Saudi Arabian clerics on his Free Saudi Liberals website.

In the Jan. 16 letter, the senators write that in the wake of the recent Paris terrorist attacks, especially, "such an example of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful religious dialogue is highly troubling and helps legitimize the extremist view that violence is a justified response to the free exercise of speech and religion."

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Jeanne Shaheen (R-N.H.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) signed the letter.

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The U.S. State Department and the U.N. high commissioner for human rights are also pressuring Saudi Arabian authorities to stop the "inhumane" punishment, but State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, "I don't think we're in the business of demanding things."