Saudi Arabia confirms 10-year travel ban for Raif Badawi

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia confirmed on Saturday a 10-year travel ban for freed blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, who has become a symbol of freedom of expression around the world.

Badawi, now 38, who was arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia in 2012 on charges of "insulting Islam", was released on Friday.

An interior ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Saturday: "The sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final." "Therefore, he cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a (royal) pardon is issued," the official said.

At the end of 2014, Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks.

His first flogging in the kingdom’s Jeddah square shocked the world and was described by the United Nations as "cruel and inhuman". After the outcry, he was not lashed again. On Friday, Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children, told AFP: "Raif called me. He is free."

It was later confirmed by a Saudi security official, but details of Badawi’s release were not revealed.