I can not explain as to why the story of Raif Badawi has hit me so hard, but it has.
On January 9, 2015 I too read of his first 50 lashes of 1,000, to be given weekly, and I was flabbergasted.
I had read of his sentencing in the past (May 2014) but hadn't given it much thought until Friday.
As a French/Irish Canadian some may think it odd that I would feel so demoralized over the enforcement of this sentencing but I can't get the picture of him being whipped, for something all of us wouldn't hesitate to do in a millisecond and the helplessness of my meager protest by signing the Amnesty Intl Petition, or the one I signed to our Conservative Government.
http://spr.ly/6183SM7S