A look at heart of the Saudi-Canadian spat

The case of Raif Badawi, a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison in Saudi Arabia, is at the heart of a diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Canada following the arrest of his activist sister, Samar.

Here’s a look at their cases and the controversy.

Convicted for an insult

In May 2014, a Saudi court convicted Badawi of insulting Islam for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s powerful clerics on a liberal blog he founded. In January 2015, he received 50 lashes before a crowd of hundreds in Jiddah. Further floggings were suspended, though he remains imprisoned.

International condemnation

Badawi’s case became an international call to arms for human rights groups, Western nations and others concerned about free speech. The U.S. State Department and the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights have called on the kingdom to rescind the sentence. Badawi’s wife and three children later moved to Canada, and she became a Canadian citizen this year.

Saudi backlash

Saudi Arabia long has been sensitive to international pressure over the Badawi sentence. In 2015, the kingdom recalled its ambassador to Sweden and stopped issuing work visas for Swedes after the Scandinavian country’s foreign minister described the Badawi court decision as “medieval” and the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud family as presiding over a “dictatorship.”

Sister’s arrest

The arrest reported last week of the writer’s sister, Samar Badawi, prompted the Canadian government to tweet about the case. She is a famed women’s right activist who has been arrested. She was honoured by the U.S. in 2012 with an International Women in Courage Award.

PAUL CHIASSON THE CANADIAN PRESS Ensaf Haidar stands next to a poster of a book of articles written by her husband, the imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, in 2015 in Montreal. Haidar, who became a Canadian citizen on Canada Day, lives in Quebec.