Raif Badawi escapes weekly flogging again in Saudi Arabia

Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger jailed for criticizing Islam, has had his weekly lashes delayed for a fifth time according to Amnesty International.

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He was sentenced to 10 years in jail and1,000 lashes, to be delivered in batches of 50 every week.

He was flogged for the first time on Jan. 9. However, the next five flogging sessions were postponed. At least two of the postponements were due to medical reasons.

He has not been seen by a doctor, according to the international human-rights organization.

Badawi is a 32-year-old blogger and activist. Hiswife and three children are refugeeslivingin Sherbrooke, Que.

His case was transferred to the Saudi criminal court last week.

Badawi was arrested in June 2012 after criticizing the Saudi regime and expressing views critical of Islam on his blog.

Amnesty International is calling for Badawi's sentence to be quashed and for him to be released immediately and unconditionally so he can join his family in Canada.