THE public flogging of a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been postponed for the second time.
Raif Badawi, 31, a blogger and founder of the "Free Saudi Liberals" website, received 50 lashes on January 9 but the second of 20 rounds in total was later postponed on medical grounds.
It has now emerged that the punishment did not go ahead after Friday prayers as planned.
Mr Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives with her three children in Canada, said earlier that his health had worsened after the first round of flogging and he could not survive the full punishment.
She said: "Raif's health condition is bad and it's getting worse and worse."
"I am very concerned about him. It is impossible for a human being to withstand 50 lashes every week," she told a news conference in Ottawa, adding that Badawi was suffering from high blood pressure.
Mr Badawi was arrested in June 2012 for offences including insulting Islam, cyber crime and disobeying his father, which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.
He was sentenced last year to 10 years in jail, a fine of 1 million riyals (£177,000) and the flogging. His blog has since been shut down.
The United States has urged Riyadh to cancel the lashing and Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has called for clemency, saying the flogging was "a violation of human dignity and freedom of expression"
Mr Badawi was last month given the Scottish Secular Society's first Aikenhead award for commitment to secular values.
Dr Juliet Cohen, head of doctors at Freedom from Torture, said the impact of a second set of lashes would be even worse than the first.
She said:
"The more blows are inflicted on top of one another, the more chance of open wounds being caused. This is important because they are likely to be more painful and at risk of infection, which will cause further pain over a prolonged period as infection delays the wounds' healing."
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