MONTREAL – Amnesty International’s Quebec branch says the eldest sister of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released after 24 hours in detention.
Samar Badawi was freed sometime earlier today from a Saudi jail but a spokeswoman for Amnesty says it isn’t clear under what conditions.
READ POST: Trudeau not ready to intervene in case of jailed Saudi blogger
Badawi was detained for allegedly posting on the Twitter account of her brother’s lawyer, Waleed Abulkhair.
It’s unclear if there was a bail attached to her release, but Amnesty’s spokeswoman Anne Ste-Marie says Samar Badawi is due back with authorities for interrogation on Thursday.
Raif Badawi, who is not a Canadian citizen, was arrested in 2012 for his criticism of Saudi clerics and was convicted in 2014.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail as well as 1,000 lashes. He received the first 50 last January during a public flogging.
READ MORE: Sentence of 1000 lashings suspended for human rights blogger
His imprisonment has drawn widespread condemnation both internationally and in Canada.
Raif Badawi’s wife and their three children live in Sherbrooke, Que.
- Toronto Pearson gold heist: Ontario man arrested at airport after arriving from India
- Toronto’s offices are emptying out. The city wants to know what to do with them
- ‘FLiRT’ COVID-19 subvariant dominant in Canada. What to know about the strain
- N.S. parents ‘terrified’ over bullying, violence in schools. One student speaks out
Comments