Jailed blogger Raif Badawi's sister arrested, detained in same prison

Samar Badawi.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/miss9afi)

The sister of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has reportedly been arrested for posting a photo of her former husband on Twitter and asking for his release from prison.

After being found guilty of insulting Islam and criticizing the regime, Raif Badawi was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes; last year, he received 50 lashes. His sentence has been condemned by leaders around the world, and his wife left Saudi Arabia for Canada, where she now lives with their three children and campaigns for his release. In a statement, Amnesty International called the detainment of Samar Badawi "the latest example of Saudi Arabia's utter contempt for its human rights obligations and provides further damning proof of the authorities' intent to suppress all signs of peaceful dissent."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.