--- title: Raif Badawi Is a Test Case for U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations description: Raif Badawi is serving a 10-year sentence over blog posts calling for freedom of religion. USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin and Commissioner Nadine Maenza say the Biden Administration can't give Saudi Arabia a free pass. canonical: https://time.com/5971090/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia/ author: Gayle Manchin article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-04-28T20:02:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:03.258Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Raif Badawi Is Still in Prison Over a Series of Blog Posts og:description: The U.S. has given Saudi Arabia a free pass for too long og:url: https://time.com/5971090/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ae4a431303b0f66/698a1922929fad80d5bf74e1/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia-primary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Ensaf Haidar, wife of imprisoned Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, protests for his release. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Raif Badawi Is Still in Prison Over a Series of Blog Posts twitter:description: The U.S. has given Saudi Arabia a free pass for too long twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ae4a431303b0f66/698a1922929fad80d5bf74e1/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia-primary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Raif Badawi Is Still in Prison Over a Series of Blog Posts. The U.S. Has Given Saudi Arabia a Free Pass for Too Long > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Gayle Manchin](https://time.com/author/gayle-manchin/) and [Nadine Maenza](https://time.com/author/nadine-maenza/) Apr 28, 2021 8:02 PM UTC  Ensaf Haidar, wife of imprisoned Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, protests for his release. Ensaf Haidar, wife of imprisoned Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, protests for his release.Ryan Rodrick Beiler—Alamy by [Gayle Manchin](https://time.com/author/gayle-manchin/) and [Nadine Maenza](https://time.com/author/nadine-maenza/) Apr 28, 2021 8:02 PM UTC For years, successive U.S. administrations have given Saudi Arabia a free pass to harass, arrest and even execute those who do not accept the government’s official interpretation of Hanbali Sunni Islam. One such case is peaceful blogger [Raif Badawi](https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/current-rpocs/raif-badawi), who is serving a 10-year sentence for a series of [blog posts calling for freedom of religion or belief in the kingdom.](https://time.com/5228667/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-mohamed-bin-salman-raif-badawi/) Despite years of [international concern](https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/03/would-canadian-citizenship-be-a-lifeline-to-this-jailed-saudi-blogger-ottawa-not-convinced.html) over the case, Badawi remains in prison. The Biden Administration is recalibrating the U.S.-Saudi relationship and has [indicated](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/us/politics/human-rights-council-biden-administration.html) that human rights will be at the center of its foreign-policy objectives. As such, it should react forcefully to the ongoing persecution of Badawi and other religious dissidents in Saudi Arabia, including applying the new Khashoggi visa bans [where applicable](https://www.justsecurity.org/75117/the-khashoggi-ban-and-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean/). Badawi is not the only one who has faced severe violations of his religious freedom. Recently freed activist [Loujain al-Hathloul](https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-calls-magnitsky-sanctions-saudi-officials-following-release) was arrested in 2018 following peaceful advocacy against religious guardianship laws. She was allegedly [subjected to torture in prison](https://time.com/5837473/loujain-al-hathloul-torture-saudi-arabia/), pressured to sign a false confession and remains under a travel and [media ban](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56023796). Shi’a [Sheikh Mohammed bin Hassan al-Habib](https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25249) remains in prison after calling for greater rights for Shi’a Muslims. Poet [Ashraf Fayadh](https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/SaudiArabia.2017.pdf) is also still in jail on an eight-year sentence for allegedly questioning religion and spreading atheist thought.  Ensaf Haidar in her home in a small basement apartment in the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec on Jan 19, 2015\. She has continued to advocate for her husband's release with the help of Amnesty International. She has been accepted into Canada as a refugee. Roger Lemoyne—Redux Even among these egregious cases, Badawi’s stands out. [Sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 whip lashes](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/raif-badawi-saudi-blogger-lashes-prison-ensaf-haidar), Badawi has been refused access to [crucial medicine](https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-raif-badawi), thrown in [solitary confinement](https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-calls-immediate-release-saudi-blogger-raif-badawi) and [denied contact with his family](https://time.com/5785742/raif-badawi-jailed-saudi-blogger/). In January 2015, he was given [50 whip lashes](https://time.com/3668758/saudi-blogger-badawi-flogging/) publicly outside a mosque in Jeddah. The Saudi government’s continued detention of Badawi is a test case for the Biden Administration’s willingness to use the new [“Khashoggi Ban,”](https://www.state.gov/accountability-for-the-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi/) which allows the State Department to deny U.S. visas to those who “suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work.” The Saudi government’s disregard for these serious American concerns destabilizes the U.S.-Saudi relationship. It also undermines [ongoing social and economic reform efforts](https://time.com/5362175/saudi-arabia-modernization-criticism/) initiated by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the last few years. Giving the Saudi government a free pass to violate freedom of religion or belief without consequences is not a sustainable U.S. policy. The future of our relationship must be premised on respect for and protection of internationally recognized human rights and the political inclusion of dissidents who might otherwise adopt more radical positions. An inclusive vision for Saudi Arabia’s future would no doubt hasten a recovery from the economic effects of COVID-19 and spur greater international business investment in the kingdom. As such, the Biden Administration should disrupt this concerning trend of impunity in three ways. First, it should lift the waiver on sanctions to which Saudi Arabia would otherwise be subjected as a designated [Country of Particular Concern (CPC)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/26/2019-27787/secretary-of-states-determination-under-the-international-religious-freedom-act-of-1998-and-frank-r) for religious freedom violations. Second, it should [hold accountable](https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-calls-magnitsky-sanctions-saudi-officials-following-release) high-level Saudi officials directly responsible for egregious religious freedom violations using the Khashoggi Ban and Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Finally, President Joe Biden and Secretary Antony Blinken should call publicly for Saudi Arabia, during this month of Ramadan, to grant clemency to Raif Badawi, and cease persecuting peaceful dissidents on spurious legal charges. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5971090/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5971090/raif-badawi-biden-saudi-arabia/"},"headline":"Raif Badawi Is Still in Prison Over a Series of Blog Posts. 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