Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes for just exercising his free speech rights; and he was not insulting any religion, just expressing his thoughts. He will be subjected to 50 lashes per week for 20 weeks; and to add to the torture, they will let him heal before administering the next set of lashes.
His arrest and imprisonment was in violation of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNUDHR) article 19, of which the United States is a signatory.
His punishment is in violation of UNUDHR article 5.
The United States is a close friend and protector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It behooves us to stand up for this individual and force the KSA to change its ways.