"Raif called me, he's free," his wife, Ensaf Haidar, told AFP very emotionally on Friday.
A news confirmed by a Saudi security official to AFP on condition of anonymity: "Yes, he was released today," said this source without giving further details.
The former winner of the Reporters Without Borders prize for press freedom was sentenced at the end of 2014 to ten years in prison and 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks for "insulting Islam".
The 38-year-old man had become a symbol of freedom of expression in the world.
His wife and three children, who have become Canadian citizens, live in Quebec.
Ensaf Haidar has been fighting for years for the release of her husband and for him to join them in Canada.
Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, in Sherbrooke, Canada where she lives, February 24, 2022 Geneviève NORMAND AFP
"Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!" Amnesty International Canada tweeted, speaking of "long-awaited news".
"Thousands of you have mobilized alongside us in the defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. A big thank you to all of you for your tireless support," added the NGO.
For Colette Lelièvre of Amnesty International Canada, it's a "great relief".
"Ensaf was losing her words because it was too sudden. She worked so hard to free her husband that emotions overwhelmed her," she said Friday after speaking with Raif Badawi's wife.
Amnesty recalls that the Saudi blogger remains for the moment subject to a ban on leaving the kingdom for ten years once his sentence has been served.
Quebec paved the way for Raif Badawi's exile to Canada by placing him on a priority list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons.
© 2022 AFP