Saudi blogger Raif Badawi spared flogging for fifth consecutive week

The flogging of Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi has been delayed for the fifth consecutive week.

According to Gulf News, Badawi avoided further flogging on Friday, Amnesty International said, marking the fifth straight week that his 1,000-lash sentence has not been carried out.

Amnesty said on its Twitter account that Badawi was not flogged again today, but he was still being held in prison.

Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for offending Islam in May last year, reported the BBC.

He was due to receive the flogging over 20 weeks and was given the first round on January 9.

Footages that emerged later showed the slight figure of Badawi, dressed in a white shirt, being beaten with a stick.

Badawi's sentence had provoked international outrage on a scale that was not anticipated by Saudi leaders, the report said.