Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam, was awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize. The 31-year-old blogger, who was arrested in 2012, is an outspoken advocate of free speech whose public flogging in January triggered international outrage when he was subjected to a first round of 50 lashes.

Badawi received the first of his 50 lashes in January, prompting strong criticism in Western countries of the kingdom’s human rights record, including its restrictive laws on political and religious expression and the status of Saudi women. This month in London, he was given the International Writer of Courage award and was co-recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize.

A Jeddah court handed Badawi his sentence in 2012 after he criticised the Saudi clergy in a blog and called for changes in the way religion is practiced in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, which follows the strict Wahhabi form of Islam, does not permit the public worship of other faiths or allow them to maintain places of worship inside the country. In a new law last year, it included atheism as a terrorist offence.

The Award:

Named in honour of Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, Badawi’s latest prize has been awarded by the European Parliament annually since 1988. The first recipients were Nelson Mandela and Russian author and dissident Anatoly Marchenko.