"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.

"I jumped everywhere when I found out. I couldn't believe it anymore. I can't wait to see my dad, so excited," one of his daughters, Najwa Badawi, 18, told AFP. .

The former winner of the Reporters Without Borders prize for freedom of the press, aged 38 today, was arrested in 2012 and then sentenced at the end of 2014 to ten years in prison and 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks for having pleaded in particular for the end of the influence of religion on public life.

The first flogging session in a public square in Saudi Arabia in 2015 which shocked the world for its "medieval" character, according to the expression of a Swedish minister at the time.

He was not whipped again afterwards.

“Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!” tweeted Amnesty International Canada on Friday, 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, who followed the file for Amnesty International Canada, it is a "great relief".

Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, on February 24, 2022 in Sherbrooke, Canada Geneviève NORMAND AFP / Archives

After receiving the phone call from Raif Badawi, "Ensaf was at a loss for words because it was too sudden. She worked so hard to free her husband that emotions overwhelmed her," she told the AFP.

Prohibition to leave the territory

Ensaf Haidar, now a Canadian citizen, lives in Quebec, 150 kilometers from Montreal, with their three children.

She told AFP in February that she was able to maintain contact with her husband by speaking to him "up to three times a week" by telephone.

She has been fighting for years for his release and for him to join them.

Quebec paved the way for Raif Badawi's exile to Canada by placing him on a priority list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons.

Ensaf Haidar holds a photo of her husband, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, on December 16, 2015 in Strasbourg, France PATRICK HERTZOG AFP/Archives

But 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.

"Finally! I keep thinking about the children who will finally find their father!" Quebec Premier François Legault tweeted on Friday.

The brutal repression of dissenting voices and the imprisonment of activists in Saudi Arabia have so far been denounced by international NGOs and the UN, even if the kingdom seeks to improve its international image by undertaking certain reforms.

Raif Badawi's sister, Samar Badawi, as well as activist Nassima al-Sadah, released in 2021, remain stranded in the kingdom.

Sunni Muslim like the majority of Saudis, Raif Badawi studied economics and ran an institute for learning English and computer techniques, according to his wife.

Demonstration for the release of Raif Badawi in Sherbrooke, February 24, 2022 in Canada Geneviève NORMAND AFP / Archives

He enjoys reading and is known for his writings in favor of freedom of expression.

The blogger won the 2014 RSF prize in the netizen category.

He was also chosen in 2015 by the leaders of the political groups of the European Parliament as the winner of the Sakharov Prize for freedom of expression.

In 2015 and 2016, he was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.

© 2022 AFP