Raif Badawi (Arabic: رائف بدوي‎; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi Arabian writer and activist. He started the website Free Saudi Liberals in 2008. He was arrested in 2012 because of the website. The website was then taken off the internet. Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes. Badawi has also been banned from any media work or foreign travel for 10 years after his release from prison. Badawi's first 50 lashes were given on January 9, 2015. After that, Badawi's lashes were postponed many times. In June 2015, a Saudi high court ruled that Badawi should be lashed but the lashing was postponed hours before it was going to happen.