After spending the past decade imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, blogger and activist Raif Badawi was freed Friday. Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who lives with the couple’s three children in Sherbrooke, Que., confirmed his release on social media. “After 10 years in prison #Raifisfree!” she wrote in a post on Twitter on March 11. A spokesperson for the family said it had no other comment and that it isn’t clear what sentence conditions remain for him. Badawi was jailed in 2012, and in 2014 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of one million Saudi riyal—roughly CAD $340,000—for criticizing the country’s clerics in his writings. His sentence drew widespread international condemnation, and numerous organizations, governments, and advocacy groups have called for his release over the years. Montreal-based human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler, who represented Badawi internationally since 2014, said last month that discussions between the European Union …
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